Mycological Tree Assessment (MTA)

[Fungus]

To all,

Information on the natural soil food web of trees and forests can be found under :

Soil food web.

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Edited May 15, 2011 by Fungus

[Fungus]

I reckon i will be up to speed within 18months on the microscopic side. got a few books to purchase on subjects like the ecology of mycorhizea and such, any you would recommend on the subject?

 

Tony,

 

On the subject of natural (ecto)mycorrhizae you will not find an illustrated textbook including and/or summarizing the total of information, which mainly has been publiced in articles on European forest ecology in mycological and/or ecological scientific magazines.

 

Books on macrofungi with microscopical information, I recommend, are the following :

 

- Agaricales : Volumes 1-6 of Flora Agaricina Neerlandica (in English, with drawings) and volumes 3-6 of Pilze der Schweiz by Breitenbach & Kränzlin (in German, with photo's and drawings).

- Aphyllophorales : Volume 2 of Pilze der Schweiz (photo's), volumes 1-2 of European Polyporales by Ryvarden & Gilbertson and volumes of Nordic Macromycetes.

- Ascomycetes : Volume 1 of Pilze der Schweiz (photo's) and volumes of Nordic Macromycetes.

 

You do have to realize however, that one can not generalize the ecological and habitat or substrate information given in those books, just as in my encyclopaedia and on my CD-rom, to the U.K. or the rest of Europe.

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[armybloke]

Interesting reading and so I pose my question to either of you in order that I have understood this concept (or not). If we use the presence of Amanita muscaria Fly Agaric against Betula sp for instance. They live harmonious and have a symbiotic relationship but does the prolific presence of this fungi suggest the demise of the tree in which it surrounds?

 

I have fingers crossed that I am close to your suggestions.

[Fungus]

Interesting reading and so I pose my question to either of you in order that I have understood this concept (or not). If we use the presence of Amanita muscaria Fly Agaric against Betula sp for instance. They live harmonious and have a symbiotic relationship but does the prolific presence of this fungi suggest the demise of the tree which it surrounds?

 

The answer to your question is the same as the answer I posted on Tony's question on the first time prolific fruiting of Suillus grevillei with an old Larix.

And a bit of information on the "dynamics" of Amanita muscaria, a cosmopolitan symbiont of decideous and coniferous trees, which recently was found fruiting as a partner of eucalypts in Portugal and is also known as a symbiont of Nothofagus in Australia.

Some fifteen to twenty years ago, in The Netherlands the Fly Agaric only was found living with Betula, Picea and (young) Pinus. Since the ammonia (NOy/NOx) deposition in my country came to its peak levels, the ground water level was lowered and the further acidification of spruce forests took place, much of the birches died, which made one partner of A. muscaria less available and on top of that, the Fly Agaric also fled from the spruce forests.

Meanwhile, as a result of the first mentioned factor, the mycelia (ectomycorrhizae) of Amanita phalloides and A. citrina withdrew from the roots of Quercus and Fagus, their regular symbiotic partners. Being left "bare" and unprotected, the roots then accepted the hyphae of Amanita muscaria, a close relative of the other two Amanita's, to form ectomycorrhizae around them. Nowadays one can find prolific fruiting of the Fly Agaric as partner of oaks and beeches in verges alongside secundary roads, which are (still) in good condition and can afford sharing much of their self-produced energy with this mushroom. And while being on the move, the Fly Agaric also succeeded in colonizing the roots of Populus, Carpinus and Tilia.

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[RobArb]

got some pictures of quite a lot of fly's under a pseudoplatanus:thumbup:

[armybloke]

The answer to your question is the same as the answer I posted on Tony's question on the first time prolific fruiting of Suillus grevillei with an old Larix.

 

Thank you. Then I shall keep a beady eye on 'the birch' and report back if I have any information for you

[Fungus]

got some pictures of quite a lot of fly's under a pseudoplatanus:thumbup:

 

Rob,

:confused1: Then there must have been tree species associated with ectomycorrhizal macrofungi present with their roots in the vicinity of this pseudoplatanus, because Acer has endomycorrhizal, a-sexually underground reproducing microfungi as symbiotic partners .

[RobArb]

i'll dig the photo's out and post them later, from what i can remember there was lots of (mainly pseudoplatanus) and a lot of ferns

 

there may have been some goat willow too but its been a while and can't remember

[Fungus]

And I can add to the information on Amanita muscaria, that recent molecular studies on the ancesterial origin of the Fly Agaric have shown, that A. muscaria was present in the Siberian-Beringian region in the Tertiary Period (65-2.4 million years ago) before wider spreading across Asia, Europe and North America, with Alaska being the center of diversification of the three distinct clades within the species.

[Fungus]

... photo's ... there was lots of (mainly pseudoplatanus) and a lot of ferns ... there may have been some goat willow too but its been a while and can't remember

 

Rob,

A root from a 15-20 metres away birch or beech will do the trick or sometimes even a birch in its "teens" growing nearer to the mushrooms.

And did you take pictures of the roots of the surrounding trees to see which one the ectomycorrhizae were on ?

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Edited May 15, 2011 by Fungus