In order to investigate the diversity of wood-inhabiting aphyllophoroid basidiomycetes in Swiss forests, 86 plots of 50 m 2 were established. They harboured a total of 3339 samples of woody debris, classified according to three categories (coarse, fine, and very fine woody debris), yielding 238 species of wood-inhabiting fungi. The selected sites cover the main forest types of Switzerland and various degrees of management intensity. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that substrate variation, i.e. differences in the quality of dead wood, including volume, age, degree of decomposition and host tree species, are the most important factors influencing diversity of wood-inhabiting fungi. In addition, a Principle Coordinate Analysis highlighted differences in the fungal communities in the different forest types. The greatest fungal species richness is found on thermophilic deciduous tree and woody shrub species. Fine and very fine woody debris, even present in intensively managed forests, often serve as important refuges for many species. Forests with a recent management intervention were found to be either species poor or species rich. Possible reasons for these differences may lay in forest size and landscape fragmentation, the distance to the nearest species pool or microclimatic factors. In Switzerland intensively managed forests harbour significantly less wood-inhabiting, aphyllophoroid fungi than non-managed or extensively managed forests. This is the case in both deciduous forests and in conifer forests. However, occasionally intensively managed forest will also harbour rare and endangered species.

N. 2001. Long-distance spore dispersal in wood-inhabiting Basidiomycetes. -Nord. J. Bot. 21: 431-436. Copenhagen. ISSN 0107-055X. Eight species of wood-inhabiting basidiomycetes (Laurilia sulcata, Peniophora aurantiaca. Resinicium bicolol: Scytinostroma galactinum, Terana caerulea,Trichaptum abietinum, Z biforme and Z fuscoviolaceum) were used in a spore-trapping test to evaluate their individual ability for long-distance spore dispersal. Petri dishes with single spore mycelia were used as baits. In the experiment, carried out at the Botanical Institute in Goteborg, spores from the air were regularly captured. Surprisingly, spores were captured from species whose nearest known natural occurrence was located quite far from Goteborg. The closest population of Peniophora aurantiaca is about 1000 km south of Goteborg. The results from this experiment support the hypothesis that fungal spores are widely and efficiently dispersed. Such a broad and extensive dispersal ability is of vital importance, especially for wood-inhabiting species which are highly dependent on a substrate which is only temporarily available.

Predicting the timing and the amount of tree mortality after a forest fire is of paramount importance for forest management decisions related to post-fire measures. Such knowledge is particularly needed in mountainous regions where forest stands often serve as protection against natural hazards. In this paper, we focus on drivers and temporal trends in mortality processes of fire-injured beeches (Fagus sylvatica L.). We studied beech forests in the Southern European Alps, which burnt between 1970 and 2012. The results show that beech trees-which obviously lack fire-resistance traits-experience increased mortality within the first two decades post-fire after fires of moderate and high burn severity. Beech mortality was ubiquitous in high severity sites, whereas taller beeches had a higher survivability after fires of moderate severity, representing a crucial ecological legacy for natural beech regeneration. In contrast, mortality remains low and at a level similar to unburnt beech forests for low burn severity sites. Among mortality drivers, fungal infestation and the presence of fungal sporulation in particular was found to be most significant. Interestingly, fungi initiating post-fire tree mortality appeared to differ from fungi occurring after mechanical injury. From a practical point of view, insight gained regarding post-fire mortality is of great help in planning post-fire silvicultural measures. We confirm that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. The article has been read and approved by all authors.In this paper, we report on the timing and drivers of beech mortality after forest fires of varying severity. This is of importance with regards to forest management decisions related to post-fire measures. Such knowledge is particularly needed in mountainous regions where forest stands often serve as protection against natural hazards.We believe this topic is appropriate for publication by Forest Ecology and Management because it links fire-ecological processes with forest management decisions, and makes further contributions to a broader understanding of beech fire ecology. A parallel study focusing on post-fire regeneration processes after a mast year has recently been published in the journal of Forest Ecology and Management (doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2015.05.031).We have no conflicts of interest to disclose. If you find that the manuscript is appropriate for your journal, we suggest the following reviewers: Predicting the timing and the amount of tree mortality after a forest fire is of 22 paramount importance for forest management decisions related to post-fire measures. 23Such knowledge is particularly needed in mountainous regions where forest stands 24 often serve as protection against natural hazards. In this paper, we focus on drivers 25 and temporal trends in mortality processes of fire-injured beeches (Fagus sylvatica 26 L.). We studied beech forests in the Southern European Alps, which burnt between 27 ...

This study on the ecology of aphyllophoroid wood-inhabiting basidiomycetes in Switzerland showed a remarkably high species diversity of both saprophytes and mycorrhiza-forming species. Phlebiella vaga, a saprophytic species, and Amphinema byssoides, a mycorrhizal symbiont, were the two most abundant species. A total of 3339 samples of fungal fruitbodies in 86 plots distributed all over Switzerland belonged to 238 species. The five main biogeographical regions of Switzerland showed different pattern of fungal species richness: while the Plateau at lower altitudes was found to be rather rich, the Northern Alps and Central Alps, with the highest amount of forests cover, yielded less species. Although the Southern Alps exhibited the lowest species richness, this region harbours a specific species set. These findings encourage for further studies in Central Europe, where many species of aphyllophoroid wood-inhabiting basidiomycetes seem to be highly under-investigated.

Intraspecific, genetic variation was studied in Peniophora aurantiaca using the internal transcribed spacer regions of the nuclear ribosomal RNA region (ITS). Specimens originating from Canada, Greenland and Switzerland were compared. The ITS sequence data were similar with only 11 phylogenetically informative characters, but an allopatric differentiation was obvious. Overall variability is high within the North American specimens compared with the Swiss specimens which had almost no variable characters.