1. The effects of grazing history, soil properties and stand structure on the communities of saprotrophic fungi in wood-pastures
- Author
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Kaisa Tervonen, Anna Oldén, Sara Taskinen, and Panu Halme
- Subjects
semi-natural ,maaperä ,laitumet ,Ecology ,biotooppi ,Ecological Modeling ,forest pastures ,Plant Science ,semi-open ,luonnon monimuotoisuus ,fungal diversity ,traditional rural biotopes ,sienet ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,dung-inhabiting - Abstract
Wood-pastures are threatened anthropogenic biotopes that provide habitat for an extensive group of species. Here we studied the effect of management, grazing intensity, time since abandonment, historical land-use intensity, soil properties and stand conditions on communities of saprotrophic fungi in wood-pastures in Central Finland. We found that the proportion of broadleaved trees and soil pH are the major drivers in the communities of saprotrophic fungi in these boreal wood-pastures. In addition, tree species richness, soil moisture, historical land-use intensity and time since abandonment affected the communities of saprotrophic fungi. Current management or grazing intensity did not have a clear effect on saprotrophic fungal species richness, although dung-inhabiting fungal species richness was highest at intermediate to high grazing intensity. Obviously, there were many more dung-inhabiting fungal species on grazed than on abandoned sites. Our study highlights the conservation value of wood-pastures as hotspots of saprotrophic fungi. peerReviewed
- Published
- 2022