Impact of forest management on the diversity of wood decaying fungi : A comparison between two closely related forests in southern Sweden

Sammanfattning

Modern forestry practices have negative effects on many organisms because they change the forest’s disturbance dynamics, makes the forest’s structure less complex, and fragments old-growth forests. This study examined how commercial forestry practices affect the diversity of wood-decaying fungi, by comparing two closely related forests with different management in Östergötland, Sweden. The eastern forest is commercially managed while the western forest is unmanaged and protected since the 1920’s. Ten sample plots in each forest were inventoried for CWD and wood decaying fungi. Statistical analyses showed that the unmanaged natural forest had higher species abundance and more dead wood per hectare. All red-listed species were exclusive to the natural forest. Species abundance was shown to be positively correlated with the amount of dead wood. In four cases, the presence of a species could be predicted by the diameter of the substrate. These results align with previous findings and show that natural forests with large amounts of dead wood are needed to sustain the diversity of wood decaying fungi in Swedish forests.