Fungus

David, See and compare the last four photo's of : http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/members/fungus-albums-rhizomorphs-armillaria.html

Of Terra Preta or Biochar, no effects on the development of endo- and/or ectomycorrhizae as elements of (already present) natural soil food webs and habitats have been researched and reported, other then that natural soils require active carbon to maintain micro and macro populations in the soil, of which the mycelia of micro- and macrofungi are an essential, if not the most important interlinking constituents, and are not "accomodated" by the inactive carbon of Biochar. As Biochar is mainly used for reforestation and agriculture in the tropics, i.e. for soil fertility management of overexploited and exhausted soils, I don't think there are much benificial effects to be expected of these products for European natural forests and woodlands, or even detrimental effects for tree species specific ecosystems of indigenous tree species must be feared, because of the possible changes in the (biochemistry of) tree species specific soil food webs triggered by inactive carbon changing the composition and variation of the micro- and macro-organisms living in and of the soil food webs on which indigenous trees largely depend. So in my opinion, we would be wise to stay away from these products primarely developed for food production purposes and for production forests of tropical hardwood.

I think, your children will especially like the "pixie and dryad's forest" of ashes and up to one hundred years old and 10 metres high hazels, surrounding a quarter of the volcanic "Totenmaar" or Weinfelder Maar (= lake) near Daun (Volcanic Eifel).

Tony, No, not one or a couple of books, but a small library with books, articles and papers on the many subjects concerned and involved and/or some own field research to document and complete or correct it. As a reflection of my own research and long term developed expertise on the subject, I am in the prelimenary stages of writing an illustrated book (or dvd) on the (dynamics of) tree species specific ecosystems of indigenous tree species depending on ectomycorrhizal macrofungi, such as Quercus robur, Fagus, Betula, Populus, Salix, Alnus, Tilia, Carpinus, Corylus and Pinus sylvestris and the role the tree species specific symbionts and saprotrophic and parasitic macrofungi play in these ecosystems and their soil food webs. So until I have found a publisher for it (Dutch, German and/or English), you'll have to "pick my brain" for this kind of information.

David, In The Netherlands present since 2004, until now found at about 10 locations on dead wood (wounds) of standing or fallen (living) beech, horse chestnut, oak and alder, without evidence, that its mycelium can cause more then a superficial rot of the wood. Are there any indications of detrimental effects in England ?

The altitudes in the mountainous southern Eifel region vary from 400 to 600 metres. It is partially, but not mainly coniferous (Picea, Abies, Pinus, Larix), but also has large areas with "Lohehecken" (Quercus robur, Carpinus and Corylus) forests, old beech woods, poor (calcareous) grasslands with Juniperus and lots of orchids and macrofungi (Hygrocybe, Clavulinopsis, Earth Tongues), in the clefts and along brooks relicts of Lime and Holly woodlands, open forests with birch, ash, Robinia and poplar (P. tremula) and banks of streams with alder, willow and poplar.

In general, I would advise never to totally remove a perennial bracket of neither saprotrophic, nor necrotrophic or biotrophic parasitic wood degrading macrofungi other then for a very good reason (identification), because removal triggers or forces the mycelium to speedy reinvest in producing reproductive organs by extra decomposing wood to build new brackets from and this destabilizes the already degraded tree even further, because of the extra loss of unaffected wood structures. And one should also bear in mind, that in the process of converting one sugar polymere cellulose (trees) into another sugar polymere chitine (fungi), about 20 % of the energy stored in the wood is lost, which implicates, that depending on the type of rot, 100 % of fungal tissue outside the tree is associated with (much) more then 120 % loss of wood, because wood only contains 70-80 % cellulose.

Examples of how beeches with bi- or trifurcated trunks can compensate for the instability of the "plakoksels" can be found in one of my long term research locations, a 100-150 years old beech forest in the centre of The Netherlands. Here, some beeches have activated their sleeping branch buds from opposite sides of two trunks growing towards another until contact is made and the branches fuse forming a stabilizing branch bridge of up to a metre in length.

Rob, And to the territorial warfare among macro- and microfungi each figting for their patch on/in a cow pat with fungicides and antibiotics produced by their mycelia and all of that in a strict order or succession. If you monitor a cow pat over time (stereo microscope), you can find up to 40 different species of micro- and macrofungi living in/on it until it crudely is recycled.

1. Who's Lynne body ? 2. I think in this case, any cellulose rich medium or substrate will do, even a pile of wet newspapers or cardboard.

Tony, 1. There are many examples of how the hypae of ectomycorrhizal macrofungi communicate with tree roots using pheromones to "ask" to be accepted as symbiotic partner, just as there are examples of tobacco plants of the same species communicating among each other with pheromones to warn others once one of them is attacked by flying green lice, which triggers its neighbours to produce poisonous defence substances in their leaves. There is an American species of a parasitic Armillaria producing and mimicing the pheromones of ectomycorrhizal macrofungi to be "let in", that once penetrating the outer layers of a root, as a wolf in sheep's clothes develops into an aggressive parasite. And another spectacular example of working together through communication is known of a tropical Acacia species with hollow spines housing small colonies of ants inside. The "cave" has two nipples, one producing liquid sugar to keep the ants inside and one alarm nipple deactivating the sugar nipple and secreting pheromones directing the ants to the outer foliage of the crown if the leaves are eaten by insects. As one can understand, the ants need both the daily sugar and a regular portion of the insects to survive. 2. You mean the Japanese book on myxomycetes ? I don't know and I don't have it, but I think looking at the photo's alone with the latin names underneath could also be worthwhile.

Rob, 1. The instable structure of what we Dutch call the "plakoksel" (= badly "glued" or joined together "armpit" or union) did the trick, maybe along with rhizomorphs of Armillaria or the mycelium of Bjerkandera adusta or Pholiota aurivella entering from above and decomposing heartwood downwards, which I have sometimes found together with secondary roots of the beech growing out in the moist rotting wood at the bottom of the split (see the photo of the upside down part of the split with the roots on top) opening the gap even wider. 2. I'm 95 % sure this is only one species, i.e. Ganoderma lipsiense on beech.

You're giving me a fright to come to England in the maybe very near future !!!

Rob, What among others is said, is that this one-celled organism seems to have a kind of "brain" making it possible to (re)orientate and regroup after it has been cut in pieces and then still can find a shortcut to the food outside the maze.

Tony, Looks frightening !!! Would you say, that the purplish zone to the right in the before last two photo's is representing or representative for the wood being coloured by the mycelium of Auricularia ?

My contribution to the special photo's of Fistulina hepatica, in this case at 6 metres hight on the about 25 degrees slanting trunk of a not very old Castanea sativa.

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If that was the main reason , then how did the female moth of Operophtera brumata arrive in England, as they can hardly fly to not fly at all and have to walk on "lover's lane", i.e. up the tree, to await and meet male partners ?

Photo 1. Quercus robur with bark (and attached rhizomorphs) falling of, because of the pressure of the rhizomorphs and plaques attacking the cambium and while swelling filling the cambium space, with the formerly present melanine plaques protecting the hyphea, which partially superficially have white rotted the dead wood causing a pale brown decolouration. Photo 2. Detail of the trunk of the same tree. To the right you can see the pattern of the imprints of the rhizomorphs in and behind the cambium zone and at the bottom, there still is some of a melanine plaque present.

David, 1. Because they probably are not regular rhizomorphs, but plaques of Armillaria, with the air exposed outside black melanine layer protecting the vulnerable inside hyphae - which colonize and slowly decompose the upper layer of one side of the dead delaminated wood and cause the pale brown decolouration of the wood - against acids and attacks by insects and parasitic microfungi or bacteria. I'll later post a photo of this type of pale brown (white) rot caused by the primal hyphae of Armillaria, which were before protected by a melanine layer. 2. No, the black outside of Armillaria rhizomorphs and plaques is melanine based and the colouration of the black demarcation lines of the mycelia of wood decomposing macrofungi bordering the individual territories are self-produced fungicides (and antibiotics) based, i.e. traces of there defensive "weapons", locally turning the wood black. And the white mycelial sheet presented could well be of Laetiporus sulphureus. 3. No, see 1. and 2. And the picture of the cross section seems to be of a beech, which makes the presence of defense barrieres especially produced by beech to keep the mycelium of Ustulina deusta inside the heartwood and prevent it from growing outwards towards the cambium through the radial rays. Conclusion. There are three types of black layers : melanine based Armillaria plaques, demarcation lines of different species defending their territories with their defensive weapens (fungicides), which cause the wood to blacken and defensive lines formed by the tree and triggered by the mycelium of Spaeriales, such as Ustulina deusta.

We can at least agree on that : Ganoderma cf. lipsiense on beech .

David, Here they are : http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/ecology/29151-myxomycetes.html#post477258

As promised, some video's on myxomycetes, starting with the most spectacular part of a German documentary on myxomycetes, showing the yellow plasmodium of Tilmadoche (= Trichia) polycephala in action in a maze in a Japanese laboratory : Watch Schleimpilze 4 Von 4 Online - VideoSurf Video Search Followed by the parts 1, 2 and 3 of the same German documentory : Watch Schleimpilze 1 Von 4 Online - VideoSurf Video Search Watch Schleimpilze 2 Von 4 Online - VideoSurf Video Search Watch Schleimpilze 3 Von 4 Online - VideoSurf Video Search And by a less impressive video in French : Watch Myxomycètes, Un Mystere De La Vie Online - VideoSurf Video Search

Not all, but this documentary is. (And until last year December, I lived in the German Eifel for 8 years).