The ecology and diversity of wood-inhabiting macrofungi in a native Eucalyptus obliqua forest of southern Tasmania, Australia

The ecology and diversity of the macrofungal species assemblages associated with woody material in four plots with differing wildfire histories in a Tasmanian tall, wet, native Eucalyptus obliqua forest were investigated. The four woody substrata (CWD, other dead wood ODW, stags and living trees) supported substantially different macrofungal assemblages, although there was some degree of overlap between CWD and ODW. The best separation between assemblages occurring on all kinds of wood, or on individual pieces of CWD, was obtained when the 100 10 x 10 m subplots of the study were grouped into classes based on the most frequently occurring higher vascular plant species within each subplot. Three polypore species were identified as being possible indicators of bio-diverse old E. obliqua forests. The sustainable management of these forests will require retaining dead wood of all sizes, species and decay stages to maintain wood-inhabiting fungal diversity. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd and The British Mycological Society. All rights reserved.