Wood-inhabiting macrofungal assemblages in 43-year-old regenerating wet eucalyptus obliqua l'hér. Forest

Abstract

This study focuses on the diversity and ecology of wood-inhabiting macrofungal species assemblages in a regenerating tall, wet, native Eucalyptus obliqua forest in southeast Tasmania, 43 years after natural and anthropogenic distutbances. Two plots subjected to "clearfell, burn and sow" silviculture were compared with two other nearby plots that had experienced wildfire. A total of 90 species was identified from 619 macrofungal records during six fortnightly visits between May and July 2010. The plots with abundant live Pomaderris apetala trees in the understorey (i.e., those at Edwards Rd) had markedly different macrofungal assemblages from those with no or with sparse Pomaderris apetala (i.e., at Hartz Rd). This study provided evidence that a 43-year-old regenerating forest maintains a core of common wood-inhabiting macrofungal species irrespective of type of disturbance. Furthermore, species most frequently observed in older forests in Tasmania can also occur in younger managed forests if biological legacies such as large diameter wood, well-decayed wood, large living trees and a diversity of tree species remain after silvicultural treatment.