Morphological traits predict host-tree specialization in wood-inhabiting fungal communities

Tree species is one of the most important determinants of wood-inhabiting fungal community composition, yet its relationship with fungal reproductive and dispersal traits remains poorly understood. We studied fungal communities (total of 657 species) inhabiting broadleaved and coniferous dead wood (total of 192 logs) in 12 semi-natural boreal forests. We utilized a trait-based hierarchical joint species distribution model to examine how the relationship between dead wood quality and species occurrence correlates with reproductive and dispersal morphological traits. Broadleaved trees had higher species richness than conifers, due to discomycetoids and pyrenomycetoids specializing in them. Re…

Kotelosienet : Ascomycota

Landscape structure influences browsing on a keystone tree species in conservation areas

Aspen is a keystone species in boreal forests. The future of aspen in many conservation areas is threatened by ungulate browsing. Our aim was to study the effect of browsing on aspen regeneration and population structure in conservation areas in Central Finland, and the effect of surrounding landscape structure on browsing. Aspen density varied greatly among and within conservation areas. In about half of the conservation areas, middle-sized aspens were scarce or missing, which indicates heavy browsing in the recent past. In addition, the number of dead, large aspens in advanced decay stages were rare. Browsing pressure varied greatly among the areas, but on average, a bit more than half of…

Wood-inhabiting fungal responses to forest naturalness vary among morpho-groups

The general negative impact of forestry on wood-inhabiting fungal diversity is well recognized, yet the effect of forest naturalness is poorly disentangled among different fungal groups inhabiting dead wood of different tree species. We studied the relationship between forest naturalness, log characteristics and diversity of different fungal morpho-groups inhabiting large decaying logs of similar quality in spruce dominated boreal forests. We sampled all non-lichenized fruitbodies from birch, spruce, pine and aspen in 12 semi-natural forest sites of varying level of naturalness. The overall fungal community composition was mostly determined by host tree species. However, when assessing the …

Detailed information on fruiting phenology provides new insights on wood-inhabiting fungal detection

Abstract Fruiting phenology traits may have a large effect on the detection of fungal species. Detailed studies considering these biologically important traits are, however, surprisingly scarce. We conducted a rigorous fruit body monitoring of wood-inhabiting fungal occurrences over one fruiting season. Taxon-specific longevity of the fruiting was different between different morphological groups. This was mainly due to agaric fruiting being shorter than other groups. Different number and timing of surveys are needed to detect the majority of the fruiting taxa of different wood-inhabiting fungal groups.

Extinction risk indices for measuring and promoting planetary well-being

The concept of planetary well-being, which stresses the persistence of lineages in ecosystems, is intimately linked to species extinction risk. Avoiding extinctions is a moral issue, as wiping out the outcomes of eons of evolutionary history and their future potential is clearly unconscionable. The concept of planetary well-being is also systemic: It is understood that species, as integral parts of ecosystems, are vital for the well-being of all systems on Earth. Yet, despite international agreements to protect biodiversity, global biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation has continued unimpeded over the past decades. We review the role of goals and targets in the UN Convention on Biolog…

Tale(s) of a forest – re-creation of a primeval forest in three environmental narratives

We analyze three environmentally conscious works that are concerned with the state of Finnish forests: the documentary film Metsän tarina/Tale of a Forest (2012), the book with the same name (2013) and the series of short documentaries Tarinoita metsästä/Tales from the Forest (2013). By combining methods from arts research and ecology, we ask how the narratives adapt material from nature photography. The film and book present mythic stories and old Finnish beliefs about forests. They also contain references to cultural memory. Additionally, the biodiversity on display reflects a conventional practice to exhibit large or charismatic species. However, the ecological message remains only impli…

Ekologien ja systemaatikkojen yhteistyö tuottaa uutta tietoa kotelosienilajistosta

Fruit body based inventories in wood-inhabiting fungi: Should we replicate in space or time?

We assessed the effect of survey design on the results when conducting fruit body surveys of wood-inhabiting fungi. Our results demonstrate that the optimal design depends on the ecological question to be addressed, as well as the group of fungal species under research. If the aim is to record the total species richness in a dead wood unit or to estimate the population size of a species, repeating the survey over time is generally necessary. However, if the aim is to estimate the total species richness in the forest or to assess how environmental covariates influence species richness or community composition, it is generally more efficient to increase the number of dead wood units than to r…

Dead wood profile of a semi-natural boreal forest – implications for sampling

Dead wood profile of a forest is a useful tool for describing forest characteristics and assessing forest disturbance history. Nevertheless, there are few studies on dead wood profiles, including both coarse and fine dead wood, and on the effect of sampling intensity on the dead wood estimates. In a semi-natural boreal forest, we measured every dead wood item over 2 cm in diameter from 80 study plots. From eight plots, we further recorded dead wood items below 2 cm in diameter. Based on these data we constructed the full dead wood profile, i.e. the overall number of dead wood items and their distribution among different tree species, volumes of different size and decay stage categories. We …

Fungal communities decline with urbanization : more in air than in soil

Increasing evidence suggests that degradation of biodiversity in human populated areas is a threat for the ecosystem processes that are relevant for human well-being. Fungi are a megadiverse kingdom that plays a key role in ecosystem processes and affects human well-being. How urbanization influences fungi has remained poorly understood, partially due to the methodological difficulties in comprehensively surveying fungi. Here we show that both aerial and soil fungal communities are greatly poorer in urban than in natural areas. Strikingly, a fivefold reduction in fungal DNA abundance took place in both air and soil samples already at 1 km scale when crossing the edge from natural to urban h…

Pathways towards a sustainable future envisioned by early-career conservation researchers

Scientists have warned decision-makers about the severe consequences of the global environmental crisis since the 1970s. Yet ecological degradation continues and little has been done to address climate change. We investigated early-career conservation researchers' (ECR) perspectives on, and prioritization of, actions furthering sustainability. We conducted a survey (n = 67) and an interactive workshop (n = 35) for ECR attendees of the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology (2018). Building on these data and discussions, we identified ongoing and forthcoming advances in conservation science. These include increased transdisciplinarity, science communication, advocacy in conservati…

Growth form matters – Crustose lichens on dead wood are sensitive to forest management

Lichens have a vital role in forest ecosystems and they are a threatened group in boreal forests. However, the conservation ecology of the total lichen community has very rarely been studied. Here we studied lichen species and communities, including macrolichens (=foliose and fruticose growth forms) and rarely studied crustose li-chens, on decaying wood in boreal spruce-dominated forests in Finland. We also studied obligate lignicoles that grow only on dead wood and are mostly crustose in growth form. Species richness and community composition were examined on decaying logs and natural or cut stumps of Picea abies at different decay stages (2-5) in 14 stands, half of which were natural or s…

Elinvoiman ja elonkirjon puolesta : ekologinen jälleenrakennus kunnissa pandemian jälkeen

Planetary well-being

Tensions between the well-being of present humans, future humans, and nonhuman nature manifest in social protests and political and academic debates over the future of Earth. The increasing consumption of natural resources no longer increases, let alone equalizes, human well-being, but has led to the current ecological crisis and harms both human and nonhuman well-being. While the crisis has been acknowledged, the existing conceptual frameworks are in some respects ill-equipped to address the crisis in a way that would link the resolving of the crisis with the pivotal aim of promoting equal well-being. The shortcomings of the existing concepts in this respect relate to anthropocentric norma…

Planetary well-being

Tensions between the well-being of present humans, future humans, and nonhuman nature manifest in social protests and political and academic debates over the future of Earth. The increasing consumption of natural resources no longer increases, let alone equalises, human well-being, but has led to the current ecological crisis and harms both human and nonhuman well-being. While the crisis has been acknowledged, the existing conceptual frameworks are in some respects ill-equipped to address the crisis in a way that would link the resolving of the crisis with the pivotal aim of promoting equal well-being. The shortcomings of the existing concepts in this respect relate to anthropocentric norma…

New national and regional biological records for Finland 5. Contributions to agaricoid and ascomycetoid taxa of fungi 4

One genera of agaricoid fungi (Basidiomycota): Romagnesiella and 12 species are reported as new to Finland: Agaricus macrocarpus, Arrhenia obatra, Arrhenia obscurata, Arrhenia rigidipes, Coprinellus brevisetulosus, Coprinus candidatus, Entoloma plebejum, Hydnum vesterholtii, Inocybe phaeocystidiosa, Mycena clavata, Omphalina arctica and Romagnesiella clavus. Two genera of ascomycetoid fungi (Ascomycota): Strossmayeria, Phaeomollisia and 8 species are reported as new to Finland: Arachnopeziza delicatula, Hyaloscypha diabolica, Hyalopeziza cf. tianschanica, Phaeomollisia piceae, Phialina pseudopuberula, Sphaeropezia hepaticarum, Strossmayeria basitricha and Trichopeziza subsulphurea. Informat…

New national and regional biological records for Finland 8. Contributions to agaricoid, gastroid and ascomycetoid taxa of fungi 5

Two genera: Marchandiomyces, Rectipilus and 16 species of agaricoid and gastroid fungi (Basidiomycota): Clitopilus daamsii, Coprinopsis canoceps, Coprinopsis laanii, Cortinarius albolens, Cortinarius flexibilifolius, Cortinarius megacystidiosus, Cortinarius russulaespermus, Cortinarius tillamookensis, Inocybe assimilata, Laccaria chibinensis, Laccaria violaceibasis, Lactarius porninsis, Lycoperdon mammiforme, Marchandiomyces aurantiacus, Psathyrella pygmaea and Rectipilus fasciculatus are reported here as new to Finland. One genus of ascomycetoid fungi (Ascomycota): Balsamia and four species: Balsamia platyspora, Barbatosphaeria arboricola, Calycellina betulina and Geoglossum elongatum are …

Local forest continuity – important for species-rich Micarea lichen communities, but less so for decomposers

Symbiotic status alters fungal eco‐evolutionary offspring trajectories

Despite host-fungal symbiotic interactions being ubiquitous in all ecosystems, understanding how symbiosis has shaped the ecology and evolution of fungal spores that are involved in dispersal and colonization of their hosts has been ignored in life-history studies. We assembled a spore morphology database covering over 26,000 species of free-living to symbiotic fungi of plants, insects and humans and found more than eight orders of variation in spore size. Evolutionary transitions in symbiotic status correlated with shifts in spore size, but the strength of this effect varied widely among phyla. Symbiotic status explained more variation than climatic variables in the current distribution of…

Effects of local forest continuity on the diversity of fungi on standing dead pines

Human-induced fragmentation affects forest continuity, i.e. availability of a suitable habitat for the target species over a time period. The dependence of wood-inhabiting fungi on landscape level continuity has been well demonstrated, but the importance of local continuity has remained controversial. In this study, we explored the effects of local forest continuity (microhabitat and stand level) on the diversity of wood-inhabiting fungi on standing dead trunks of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). We studied species richness and community composition of decomposers and Micarea lichens on 70 trunks in 14 forests in central Finland that differed in their state of continuity. We used dendrochr…

Taide, ekologia ja ihmisen monimuotoinen luontosuhde – kohti yhteistä tulevaisuutta -tutkimushankkeen kyselylomakkeet ja haastattelupohjat (2020-2021)

The survey material includes a research invitation, nature relationship survey questions, environmental film reception survey questions, environmental sound artwork reception survey questions, participant interview questions and artist interview questions. The questionnaires contain unstructured and semi-structured questions about the participants' relationship with nature, perceptions of nature and representations of nature in art and other visual material. The artist questionnaire contains questions about the artist's experiences related to making a work of art as part of a research project. Kyselyaineisto sisältää tutkimuskutsun, luontosuhdekyselyn kysymykset, ympäristöaiheisten elokuvie…

Dead wood and fungi : detection, diversity and conservation in boreal forests

Dead wood and associated fungal communities are a crucial part of boreal forest ecosystems, and severely affected and threatened by human actions like commercial timber harvesting. Despite their importance for forest functioning, most wood-inhabiting fungal species, especially those producing small fruit bodies, are still ecologically and taxonomically poorly known. In addition, studies on dead wood profiles have neglected fine woody debris. This thesis includes detailed investigations of fruiting phenology of different morphological groups and complete dead wood profile of one semi-natural boreal forest. In addition, the diversity patterns of wood-inhabiting fungal communities according fo…

Effect of forest naturalness on assemblages of different morphological groups of wood-inhabiting fungi

Forestry is known to have clear negative effects on the diversity of fungal species, especially on those that are producing large, long living fruitbodies. However, the effect of forestry has not been comprehensively studied among different fungal groups and host tree species in boreal forests. Also most often a study plot based approach has been utilized in which the substrate quality is always very different between the managed and unmanaged forests. In the present study, we studied the effect of forestry on fungal assemblages inhabiting large logs of similar quality among the different management classes. We included all non-lichenized fungal species producing sexual fruitbodies on 42 de…

Local forest continuity – important for species-rich Micarea lichen communities, but less so for decomposers

Fragmentation has a negative effect on forest continuity, i.e. availability of a suitable habitat for the target species over a time period (1). The dependence of wood-inhabiting fungi on landscape level continuity is well acknowledged, but the role of local continuity has remained unclear. We explored the effects of local forest continuity (microhabitat and stand level) on the diversity of fungi inhabiting standing dead trunks of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). Specifically, we studied the species richness and community composition of decomposers and Micarea lichens. The study included 70 trunks in 14 forests in central Finland with varying state of continuity. We assessed the detailed h…