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In the present study, biological indicators were used to assess the impact of applying spent mushroom substrate and manure on the soil environment. The use of spent mushroom substrate had a varied effect on the microorganisms. Stimulation was recorded in the abundance of copiotrophic bacteria and fungi, but only in the first year of the study. In the case of cellulolytic bacteria, this effect was visible only in single plots. Similar observations were also noted regarding the relative DNA content (in relation to the control), which increased for both bacteria and fungi after applying spent mushroom substrate. In the soil fertilized with spent mushroom substrate, a decrease in DNA concentration was observed, but only in the first and second year. For enzymatic activity, the use of spent mushroom substrate alone proved to be more favorable, but this effect was again observed only in the first year of the study. The application of manure caused similar changes as observed with the use of spent mushroom substrate. These observations indicate a similar impact of spent mushroom substrate and manure on the parameters tested. The research presented suggests the use of both classical methods and methods based on the analysis of DNA extracted from soil to study the impact of spent mushroom substrate on the activity of soil microbial populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avian nests are a unique and sometimes extreme environment in which fungi occur. In this study, a correlation was recorded between the breeding biology and ecology of wetland birds and the biology and ecology of fungi in nests of wetland birds. The abundance of ecophysiologically diversified fungi, i.e. saprotrophs, cellulolytic fungi, and potentially zoo- and phytopathogenic fungi, was shown to be significantly higher in large nests, while species diversity (Shannon index) of fungi in nests with similar properties was not significant. The taxonomic structure (genus and species composition) and the spatial structure (frequency) of the nest mycobiota are mainly affected by nests' specific physical and chemical properties which depend on the breeding and feeding preferences of the birds. In dry, highly sun-exposed nests of the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), a species that establishes breeding colonies high in the trees, mainly feeds on fish and has young who defecate into the nest, populations of xerophilic, alkali- and thermotolerant fungi, including keratinolytic fungi (Chrysosporium tropicum), developed. In the nests of the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), a precocial species which constructs very large, relatively low-hygiene nests at the water's edge and which feeds on plant food, populations of hydrophilic and thermotolerant fungi, including highly cellulolytic fungi such as Chaetomium globosum, were detected. Nests of other small species of wetland birds, whose nests are also located on water but contain smaller amounts of animal-derived material, did not differ significantly mycologically and were colonised mainly by species such as Trichoderma viride and Penicillium purpurogenum, ubiquitous fungi with very high water and thermotolerant requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]