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Archaea have been reported from deadwood of a few different tree species in temperate and boreal forest ecosystems in the past. However, while one of their functions is well linked to methane production any additional contribution to wood decomposition is not understood and underexplored which may be also attributed to lacking investigations on their diversity in this substrate. With this current work, we aim at encouraging further investigations by providing aid in primer choice for DNA metabarcoding using Illumina amplicon sequencing. We tested 16S primer pairs on genomic DNA extracted from woody tissue of four temperate deciduous tree species. Three primer pairs were specific to archaea and one prokaryotic primer pair theoretically amplifies both, bacterial and archaeal DNA. Methanobacteriales and Methanomassiliicoccales have been consistently identified as dominant orders across all datasets but significant variability in ASV richness was observed using different primer combinations. Nitrososphaerales have only been identified when using archaea-specific primer sets. In addition, the most commonly applied primer combination targeting prokaryotes in general yielded the lowest relative proportion of archaeal sequences per sample, which underlines the fact, that using target specific primers unraveled a yet unknown diversity of archaea in deadwood. Hence, archaea seem to be an important group of the deadwood-inhabiting community and further research is needed to explore their role during the decomposition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This pest survey card was prepared in the context of the EFSA mandate on plant pest surveillance (M‐2017‐0137) at the request of the European Commission. Its purpose is to guide the Member States in preparing data and information for Xylosandruscrassiusculussurveys. These are required to design statistically sound and risk‐based pest surveys, in line with current international standards.Xylosandruscrassiusculusis an ambrosia beetle within the subfamily Scolytinaeand is a clearlydistinguished taxonomic entity. The pest is present on all continents.Within the EU,X.crassiusculusis currently present in Italy, France and Spain and transient in Slovenia.Although itis currently reported in Mediterranean areas, the pest appears able to become established in many countries and regions of the Union territory. The ambrosia beetle is highly polyphagous and able to attack several broadleaf trees species. However, in Europe only three tree species have been reported as infested:Ceratonia siliqua, Cercissiliquastrum and Castaneasativa.The beetle may attack both thin branches of living trees (or saplings) and freshly cut wood.Trade of plants for planting, timber and wood products, as well as woodpacking material are major pathways for the introduction of X. crassiusculus into the EU and this is also confirmed by multiple interceptions at points of entry. Hence, international airports and seaports and surrounding areas with trading activities are considered risk locations and risk areas. In addition, as a lot of information on attacks on saplings in nurseries is available from North America, large nurseries with international trade may also be considered risk locations. Trapping is recommended when the females emerge and start attacking new hosts. Their flight activity is linked to warm daily temperatures and can start in early spring and last until October. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pest survey card was prepared in the context of the EFSA mandate on plant pest surveillance (M‐2017‐0137) at the request of the European Commission. Its purpose is to guide the Member States in preparing data and information for Geosmithia morbida and Pityophthorus juglandis surveys. These are required to design statistically sound and risk‐based pest surveys, in line with current international standards.Geosmithia morbida and its vector P. juglandis are clearly defined taxonomic entitiesand the combined activity of the fungus and the insect causes the disease complex thousand canker disease on the plant genera Juglans and Pterocarya. The pest and its vector originate in North America and currently have a restricted distribution in the EU, limited to the northern parts of Italy.However, they are potentially able to become established everywhere in the EU where their host plants occur.Currently, the spread capacity ofP.juglandis is unknown, but the insect vectormay cover large distances by passive dispersal or human‐assisted spread. Risk locations include entry points (e.g. seaports, airports), loading stations, storage facilities and wood processing companies that deal withheat‐treated wood, bark or woodchips of the genera Juglans and Pterocarya originating from countries where the fungus and its vector occur.Trapping is the recommended method for detecting the vector inthe early stages of an epidemic. Following insect trapping, a specific tree inspection should be carried out, looking for external symptoms(e.g. penetration and exit holes, cankers and wilting). The trapping should start when the mean air temperature exceeds 18°C.Morphological identification of the pathogen and its vector should be performed by experts. Molecular assays are also available for both fungal and vector identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Based on earlier investigations, Bursaphelenchus sexdentati sensu lato consists of two distinct forms, a central European and a southern European type. In this paper we recognise these forms at species level and propose B. dietrichi sp. n. for the southern European type, regarding it as distinct from B. sexdentati sensu stricto. The relatively long (733-881 μ m) and slender (a = 34.7-43.3) females of the new species have a small vulval flap, a long post-uterine sac extending for 46.6-75.3% of the vulva to anus distance, and a mostly conical tail with a more or less bluntly rounded terminus. The male spicules are strongly ventrally arcuate, measuring 13-17 μ m along the arc, and have a bluntly pointed rostrum ca 2-3 μ m long in the proximal part and a small cucullus at their distal end. The capitulum is slightly concave and the condylus is ca 2-3 μ m long, truncated and slightly hooked. The oval bursa and the disposition of the male caudal papillae, as well as the presence of four lateral lines, justify the assignment of this taxon to the sexdentati -group. Bursaphelenchus dietrichi sp. n. can be distinguished from B. sexdentati s.s. and other related species by morphological characters and sequencing results. Bursaphelenchus sexdentati s.s. is also recorded from China for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pest survey card was prepared in the context of the EFSA mandate on plant pest surveillance (M‐2017‐0137) at the request of the European Commission. The purpose of the document is to assist the Member States to plan annual survey activities of quarantine organisms using a statistically sound and risk‐based pest survey approach, in line with current international standards. The data requirements for such an activity include the pest distribution, its host range, its biology and risk factors, as well as available detection and identification methods. This document is part of a toolkit that consists of pest‐specific documents, such as the pest survey cards, and generic documents relevant for all pests to be surveyed, including the general survey guidelines and statistical software such as RiBESS+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pest survey card was prepared in the context of the EFSA mandate on plant pest surveillance (M- 2017-0137) at the request of the European Commission. The purpose of the document is to assist the Member States to plan annual survey activities of quarantine organisms using a statistically sound and risk-based pest survey approach, in line with current international standards. The data requirements for such an activity include the pest distribution, its host range, its biology and risk factors, as well as available detection and identification methods. This document is part of a toolkit that consists of pestspecific documents, such as the pest survey cards, and generic documents relevant for all pests to be surveyed, including the general survey guidelines and statistical software such as RiBESS+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pest survey card was prepared in the context of the EFSA mandate on plant pest surveillance (M- 2017-0137) at the request of the European Commission. The purpose of the document is to assist the Member States to plan annual survey activities of quarantine organisms using a statistically sound and risk-based pest survey approach, in line with current international standards. The data requirements for such an activity include the pest distribution, its host range, its biology and risk factors, as well as available detection and identification methods. This document is part of a toolkit that consists of pestspecific documents, such as the pest survey cards, and generic documents relevant for all pests to be surveyed, including the general survey guidelines and statistical software such as RiBESS+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deadwood is an important structural component in forest ecosystems and plays a significant role in global carbon and nutrient cycling. Relatively little is known about the formation and decomposition of CWD by microbial communities in situ and about the factors controlling the associated processes. In this study, we intensively analyzed the molecular fungal community composition and species richness in relation to extracellular enzyme activity and differences in decomposing sapwood and heartwood of 13 temperate tree species (four coniferous and nine deciduous species, log diameter 30–40 cm and 4 m long) in an artificial experiment involving placing the logs on the forest soil for six years. We observed strong differences in the molecular fungal community composition and richness among the 13 tree species, and specifically between deciduous and coniferous wood, but unexpectedly no difference was found between sapwood and heartwood. Fungal species richness correlated positively with wood extractives and negatively with fungal biomass. A distinct fungal community secreting lignocellulolytic key enzymes seemed to dominate the decomposition of the logs in this specific phase. In particular, the relative sequence abundance of basidiomycetous species of the Meruliaceae (e.g. Bjerkandera adusta) correlated with ligninolytic manganese peroxidase activity. Moreover, this study reveals abundant white-rot causing Basidiomycota and soft-rot causing Ascomycota during this phase of wood decomposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Deadwood represents an important structural component of forest ecosystems, where it provides diverse niches for saproxylic biota. Although wood‐inhabiting prokaryotes are involved in its degradation, knowledge about their diversity and the drivers of community structure is scarce. To explore the effect of deadwood substrate on microbial distribution, the present study focuses on the microbial communities of deadwood logs from 13 different tree species investigated using an amplicon based deep‐sequencing analysis. Sapwood and heartwood communities were analysed separately and linked to various relevant wood physico‐chemical parameters. Overall, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria represented the most dominant phyla. Microbial OTU richness and community structure differed significantly between tree species and between sapwood and heartwood. These differences were more pronounced for heartwood than for sapwood. The pH value and water content were the most important drivers in both wood compartments. Overall, investigating numerous tree species and two compartments provided a remarkably comprehensive view of microbial diversity in deadwood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the important role of wood-inhabiting fungi (WIF) in deadwood decomposition, our knowledge of the factors shaping the dynamics of their species richness and community composition is scarce. This is due to limitations regarding the resolution of classical methods used for characterizing WIF communities and to a lack of well-replicated long-term experiments with sufficient numbers of tree species. Here, we used a large scale experiment with logs of 11 tree species at an early stage of decomposition, distributed across three regions of Germany, to identify the factors shaping WIF community composition and Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) richness using next generation sequencing. We found that tree species identity was the most significant factor, corresponding to (P < 0.001) and explaining 10% (representing 48% of the explainable variance) of the overall WIF community composition. The next important group of variables were wood-physicochemical properties, of which wood pH was the only factor that consistently corresponded to WIF community composition. For overall WIF richness patterns, we found that approximately 20% of the total variance was explained by wood N content, location, tree species identity and wood density. It is noteworthy that the importance of determinants of WIF community composition and richness appeared to depend greatly on tree species group (broadleaved vs. coniferous) and it differed between the fungal phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Nitrogen deposition can strongly affect biodiversity, but its specific effects on terrestrial microbial communities and their roles for ecosystem functions and processes are still unclear. Here, we investigated the impacts of N deposition on wood‐inhabiting fungi (WIF) and their related ecological functions and processes in a highly N‐limited deadwood habitat. Based on high‐throughput sequencing, enzymatic activity assay and measurements of wood decomposition rates, we show that N addition has no significant effect on the overall WIF community composition or on related ecosystem functions and processes in this habitat. Nevertheless, we detected several switches in presence/absence (gain/loss) of wood‐inhabiting fungal OTUs due to the effect of N addition. The responses of WIF differed from previous studies carried out with fungi living in soil and leaf‐litter, which represent less N‐limited fungal habitats. Our results suggest that adaptation at different levels of organization and functional redundancy may explain this buffered response and the resistant microbial‐mediated ecosystem function and processes against N deposition in highly N‐limited habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deadwood decay is an important ecosystem process in forest ecosystems, but the relative contribution of specific wood properties of tree species, activities of wood-degrading enzymes, and decomposer communities such as fungi and insects is unclear. We ask whether wood properties, in particular differences between angiosperms and gymnosperms, and organismic diversity of colonizers contribute to wood decomposition. To test this, we exposed deadwood logs of 13 tree species, covering four gymnosperms and nine angiosperm species, in 30 plots under different forest management in three regions in Germany. After a decomposition time of 6.5 years Carpinus betulus and Fagus sylvatica showed the highest decay rates. We found a positive correlation of decay rate with enzyme activities, chemical wood properties (S, K concentration) and organismic diversity, while, heartwood character, lignin content, extractive concentration and phenol content were negatively correlated with decay rate across all 13 tree species. By applying a multi-model inference approach we found that the activity of the wood-degrading enzymes laccase and endocellulase, beetle diversity, heartwood presence, wood ray height and fungal diversity were the most important predictor variables for wood decay. Although we were not able to identify direct cause and effect relations by our approach, we conclude that enzyme activity and organismic diversity are the main drivers of wood decay rate, which greatly differed among tree species. Maintaining high tree species diversity will therefore result in high structural deadwood diversity in terms of decay rate and decay stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In forest ecosystems, deadwood is an important component that provides habitat and contributes to nutrient cycles, as well as to carbon and water storage. The change of wood constituents, nutrients and microbial species richness in the field over the whole time of decomposition has only rarely been studied, in particular not in relation to oxidative enzyme activities (mediating lignin degradation) and different forest management regimes. To describe wood decomposition, we selected coarse woody debris (CWD) in form of 197 logs of Fagus sylvatica , Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris in forests with different management regimes across three regions in Germany. They were sampled and analyzed for wood density, water content, wood constituents (Klason and acid-soluble lignin, organic extractives, water-soluble lignin fragments), carbon, nitrogen and metals (Al, Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn and Zn). Furthermore, the activities of oxidative enzymes like laccase, manganese peroxidase, and general peroxidase were measured. Since filamentous fungi (Basidiomycota, Ascomycota) are the major biological agents of wood decomposition, fungal species richness based on sporocarps and molecular fingerprints was recorded. Higher forest management intensity had a negative effect on deadwood volume and in consequence on fungal species richness (sporocarps), but hardly to other analyzed variables. Furthermore, there were significant differences between the tree species for the concentrations of wood constituents and most nutrients as well as the activities of oxidative enzymes, although their course during decomposition was mostly similar among the tree species. We found that molecular species richness increased with the period of decomposition in contrast to the number of fruiting species, which was highest in the intermediate stage of decomposition. Both types of species richness increased with increasing volume of the CWD logs. Regarding the entire period of decomposition, white-rot fungi (WRF), based on identification of sporocarps, were the most abundant group of wood-decaying fungi in all three tree species. This corresponds well with the overall presence of laccase and peroxidases and the concomitant substantial loss of lignin, which points to the importance of these enzymes in deadwood decomposition. We found a continuous decomposition and decline of volume-related concentrations in wood constituents and nutrients with time of decomposition. Contrary to volume-related concentrations, the concentrations related to dry mass frequently increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decomposition rates of coarse woody debris (CWD) have been investigated in many studies, however data on fungal biomass and the related enzymatic activities in decomposing CWD are scarce. Here, we investigated the relations between fungal biomass, enzyme activities and CWD properties in sap- and heartwood of decomposing logs of 13 different temperate European tree species, exposed for 6 years on the ground. Fungal biomass was significantly higher in sapwood than in heartwood and higher in deciduous than in coniferous species, and represented 0.3–4.4% of CWD dry mass. In deciduous sapwood, fungal biomass may represent up to 29% of the total N stock in CWD. Fungal biomass correlated positively with the N content of CWD and, in heartwood, negatively with extractives. Enzyme activities were higher in deciduous than in coniferous CWD and for hydrolases higher in sapwood than in heartwood. Correlations between enzyme activities and the ergosterol content were generally weak. Hydrolytic enzymes were frequently found in all decaying tree species, whereas ligninolytic oxidoreductases showed high variability specifically in deciduous wood. Fungal biomass and enzymatic activities confirm the assumption that, in the initial stage, the decomposition of deciduous CWD is faster than of coniferous CWD under comparable conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood-inhabiting fungi are major agents of wood decomposition. However, it is unclear which factors determine their distribution and enzyme production. Many studies that have addressed this issue suffer from a lack of geographic extent. Here, we investigate the fungal community structure of 117 Fagus sylvatica logs in relation to wood physico-chemical properties and secreted ligninolytic enzymes, across three distinct geographical regions of Germany. Our results revealed that fungal community structure was similar across different regions, but was nevertheless variable in all regions. The relationships between fungal community structure, wood physico-chemical properties and enzyme activities were not consistent across different regions. However, we identified that the wood physico-chemical properties (i.e. decay class, remaining mass, density, extractives, total lignin and pH) were the most important factors associated with the fungal community structure in all three regions. In contrast, the wood physico-chemical properties and the fungal community structure did not sufficiently explain variation in the detected enzymatic activities. Thus, we assume that interspecific interactions and recently described priority effects play more important roles in the production of lignin modifying enzymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi are prominent drivers of ecological processes in soils, so that fungal communities across different soil ecosystems have been well investigated. However, for arable soils taxonomically resolved fine-scale studies including vertical itemization of fungal communities are still missing. Here, we combined a cloning/Sanger sequencing approach of the ITS/LSU region as marker for general fungi and of the partial SSU region for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to characterize the microbiome in different maize soil habitats. Four compartments were analyzed over two annual cycles 2009 and 2010: a) ploughed soil in 0–10 cm, b) rooted soil in 40–50 cm, c) root-free soil in 60–70 cm soil depth and d) maize roots. Ascomycota was the most dominant phylum across all compartments. Fungal communities including yeasts and AMF differed strongly between compartments. Inter alia, Tetracladium, the overall largest MOTU (molecular operational taxonomic unit), occurred in all compartments, whereas Trichosporon dominated all soil compartments. Sequences belonging to unclassified Helotiales were forming the most abundant MOTUs exclusively present in roots. This study gives new insights on spatial distribution of fungi and helps to link fungal communities to specific ecological properties such as varying resources, which characterize particular niches of the heterogeneous soil environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshly cut beech deadwood was enriched in the canopy and on the ground in three cultural landscapes in Germany (Swabian Alb, Hainich-Dün, Schorfheide-Chorin) in order to analyse the diversity, distribution and interaction of wood-inhabiting fungi and beetles. After two years of wood decay 83 MOTUs (Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units) from 28 wood samples were identified. Flight Interception Traps (FITs) installed adjacent to the deadwood enrichments captured 29.465 beetles which were sorted to 566 species. Geographical ‘region’ was the main factor determining both beetle and fungal assemblages. The proportions of species occurring in all regions were low. Statistic models suggest that assemblages of both taxa differed between stratum and management praxis but their strength varied among regions. Fungal assemblages in Hainich-Dün, for which the data was most comprehensive, discriminated unmanaged from extensively managed and age-class forests (even-aged timber management) while canopy communities differed not from those near the ground. In contrast, the beetle assemblages at the same sites showed the opposite pattern. We pursued an approach in the search for fungus-beetle associations by computing cross correlations and visualize significant links in a network graph. These correlations can be used to formulate hypotheses on mutualistic relationships for example in respect to beetles acting as vectors of fungal spores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen availability in dead wood is highly restricted and associations with N-fixing bacteria are thought to enable wood-decaying fungi to meet their nitrogen requirements for vegetative and generative growth. We assessed the diversity of nifH (dinitrogenase reductase) genes in dead wood of the common temperate tree species Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies from differently managed forest plots in Germany using molecular tools. By incorporating these genes into a large compilation of published nifH sequences and subsequent phylogenetic analyses of deduced proteins we verified the presence of diverse pools corresponding to functional nifH, almost all of which are new to science. The distribution of nifH genes strongly correlated with tree species and decay class, but not with forest management, while higher fungal fructification was correlated with decreasing nitrogen content of the dead wood and positively correlated with nifH diversity, especially during the intermediate stage of wood decay. Network analyses based on non-random species co-occurrence patterns revealed interactions among fungi and N-fixing bacteria in the dead wood and strongly indicate the occurrence of at least commensal relationships between these taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nematodes represent a diverse and ubiquitous group of metazoans in terrestrial environments. They feed on bacteria, fungi, plants, other nematodes or parasitize a variety of animals and hence may be considered as active members of many food webs. Deadwood is a structural component of forest ecosystems which harbors many niches for diverse biota. As fungi and bacteria are among the most prominent decomposing colonizers of deadwood, we anticipated frequent and diverse nematode populations to co-occur in such ecosystems. However, knowledge about their ability to colonize this habitat is still limited. We applied DNA-based amplicon sequencing (metabarcoding) of the 18S rRNA gene to analyze nematode communities in sapwood and heartwood of decaying logs from 13 different tree species. We identified 247 nematode ASVs (amplicon sequence variants) from 27 families. Most of these identified families represent bacterial and fungal feeders. Their composition strongly depended on tree species identity in both wood compartments. While pH and water content were the only wood properties that contributed to nematodes' distribution, co-occurring fungal and prokaryotic (bacteria and archaea) α- and β-diversities were significantly related to nematode communities. By exploring thirteen different tree species, which exhibit a broad range of wood characteristics, this study provides first and comprehensive insights into nematode diversity in deadwood of temperate forests and indicates connectivity to other wood-inhabiting organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deadwood is an important biodiversity hotspot in forest ecosystems. While saproxylic insects and wood-inhabiting fungi have been studied extensively, little is known about deadwood-inhabiting bacteria. The study we present is among the first to compare bacterial diversity and community structure of deadwood under field conditions. We therefore compared deadwood logs of two temperate forest tree species Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies using 16S rDNA pyrosequencing to identify changes in bacterial diversity and community structure at different stages of decay in forest plots under different management regimes. Alphaproteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were the dominant taxonomic groups in both tree species. There were no differences in bacterial OTU richness between deadwood of Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies. Bacteria from the order Rhizobiales became more abundant during the intermediate and advanced stages of decay, accounting for up to 25% of the entire bacterial community in such logs. The most dominant OTU was taxonomically assigned to the genus Methylovirgula, which was recently described in a woodblock experiment of Fagus sylvatica. Besides tree species we were able to demonstrate that deadwood physico-chemical properties, in particular remaining mass, relative wood moisture, pH, and C/N ratio serve as drivers of community composition of deadwood-inhabiting bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forestry in Europe changed the tree species composition and reduced dead-wood amount and heterogeneity, and therefore negatively affected saproxylic diversity. Efficient conservation requires knowledge about the importance of the relevant diversity drivers across taxa. We examined the relative importance of space vs. host for saproxylic diversity at a spatial extend of 600 km in Germany. Further, we disentangled effects of among regions, forest stands, host clades, and tree species on saproxylic diversity. This allows inferences for spatial- and host tree-related conservation strategies. Beetle, fungal sporocarp, molecular-derived fungal, and bacterial communities were studied in a large nested dead-wood experiment comprising 11 tree species. We used multiplicative diversity partitioning to assess the diversity of rare, typical, and dominant species. The beta-diversity of beetles and fungal sporocarps was equally explained by space and host, but that of molecular fungi and bacteria mainly by the host. Across taxa, beta-diversity was higher among forest stands than among regions. However, for beetles and fungal sporocarps, differences among regions were also important. Host tree clade and host tree species were important for beetle and host clade for fungal sporocarp beta-diversity. Host tree species was more important than host clade for the beta-diversity of molecular fungi and bacteria. The divergent response of different taxa to space and host calls into question the use of a simple spatially-centered or host-centered strategy. Instead, a high dead-wood tree species diversity on a broad spatial coverage at the national scale in temperate European forests is necessary to maintain rare and abundant species. • Relative importance of space versus host across saproxylic taxa is unknown. • Beetle diversity is driven by space and host, microbial diversity mainly by the host. • Different fungal diversity measures yielded different results. • Conservation requires dead-wood enrichment with different clades and tree species. • Dead-wood enrichment must be established in different forest types across regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi and prokaryotes are dominant colonizers of wood and mediate its decomposition. Much progress has been achieved to unravel these communities and link them to specific wood properties. However, comparative studies considering both groups of organisms and assessing their relationships to wood resources are largely missing. Bipartite interaction networks provide an opportunity to investigate this colonizer-resource relationship more in detail and aim to directly compare results between different biotic groups. The main questions were as follows. Are network structures reflecting the trophic relationship between fungal and prokaryotic colonizers and their resources? If so, do they reflect the critical role of these groups, especially that of fungi, during decomposition? We used amplicon sequencing data to analyze fungal and prokaryotic interaction networks from deadwood of 13 temperate tree species at an early to middle stage of decomposition. Several diversity- and specialization-related indices were determined and the observed network structures were related to intrinsic wood traits. We hypothesized nonrandom bipartite networks for both groups and a higher degree of specialization for fungi, as they are the key players in wood decomposition. The results reveal highly modular and specialized interaction networks for both groups of organisms, demonstrating that many fungi and prokaryotes are resource-specific colonizers. However, as the level of specialization of fungi significantly surpassed that of prokaryotes, our findings reflect the strong association between fungi and their host. Our novel approach shows that the application of bipartite interaction networks is a useful tool to explore, quantify, and compare the deadwood-colonizers relationship based on sequencing data. IMPORTANCE Deadwood is important for our forest ecosystems. It feeds and houses many organisms, e.g., fungi and prokaryotes, with many different species contributing to its decomposition and nutrient cycling. The aim of this study was to explore and quantify the relationship between these two main wood-inhabiting organism groups and their corresponding host trees. Two independent DNA-based amplicon sequencing data sets (fungi and prokaryotes) were analyzed via bipartite interaction networks. The links in the networks represent the interactions between the deadwood colonizers and their deadwood hosts. The networks allowed us to analyze whether many colonizing species interact mostly with a restricted number of deadwood tree species, so-called specialization. Our results demonstrate that many prokaryotes and fungi are resource-specific colonizers. The direct comparison between both groups revealed significantly higher specialization values for fungi, emphasizing their strong association to respective host trees, which reflects their dominant role in exploiting this resource., (Copyright © 2021 Moll et al.)