Wood fungi in decaying Norway spruce: communities and activity

However, the ecological knowledge of the wood-decaying fungal communities in situ relies almost exclusively upon fruit-bodies observations, which give only an incomplete picture of the entire diversity. 454-pyrosequencing offers means to more extensive sampling of the communities as well as the detection of low abundance/non-fruiting taxa.

The overall aim of our projects is to describe fungal communities inhabiting Norway spruce logs at different spatial scales and different localities (hemi-boreal and boreal borests; pyrosequencing). The results are combined with functional trait data (decomposition rate, changes in wood chemical variables) and compared to existing data on fruit bodies.

Another task is to propose a biodiversity-functioning model as well as to simulate species interactions using large empirical data sets obtained in the study (Bayesian statistics). Proposed species associations are further studied in laboratory interaction experiments in microcosms. The results will extend existing knowledge of wood fungi ecology as well as aid in the interpretation of the consequences of biodiversity loss in forest ecosystems.