%0 Articles
%T Dead-wood-associated aphyllophoroid fungi: perspectives on the diversity, ecology and conservation biology of species and their habitats
%A Kunttu, Panu
%D 2016
%J Dissertationes Forestales
%V 2016
%N 225
%R doi:10.14214/df.225
%U http://dissertationesforestales.fi/article/2007
%X This thesis examines the diversity and substrates of aphyllophoroid fungi with implications for their conservation biology. I focused on the distributional patterns of fungi on woody substrates, analyzed the diversity and indicators related to their substrates, and developed fungal monitoring schemes. The main results are:

1) A total of 303 aphyllophoroid fungi species were observed on my study site in the Archipelago Sea National Park, and a total of 331 species from all study sites. These include eight species new to Finland, 30 very rare species in Finland, and seven still undescribed species.

2) Of the five dead wood related indicators of forest naturalness and fungal substrate diversity; volume of dead wood provided the best overall agreement with the other indicators. Not all indicators were correlated and, as such, the selection of a dead wood indicator can considerably affect the output of an assessment.

3) Fungi occurrence was not related to the availability of different types of dead wood substrates, thereby indicating the high importance of specific substrates for species. Polypores and corticioids differed from each other in their occurrence patterns. Variation in dead wood quality is important for the preservation of wood-inhabiting fungi diversity.

4) I observed 138 species on black alder (Alnus glutinosa); 27 of which grew solely on that tree species. Many of the alder-associated species are rare. Thus, less common trees can also host highly diverse and specialized fungal assemblages and within-tree substrate variation is ecologically important for fungi.

5) A more effective systematic utilization of citizen science, databases, modern molecular methods and recording sampling information would provide major possibilities for the improvement of monitoring and the conservation of lesser known fungi.

In conclusion, this thesis highlights the ecological significance of diverse substrates for aphyllophoroid fungi. Several coarse wood debris (CWD)-related measures that have been used to describe substrate characteristics, and to measure forest naturalness, are not consistent in their results and are also unlikely to provide consistent indications of fungal substrates. CWD-related measures of forest naturalness are thus not recommended to replace on-site fungal surveys in the assessment of the value of a particular site for fungi.