Chapter 5 - Interspecific interactions within fungal communities associated with wood decay and forest trees

Abstract

Interspecific fungal interactions are complex and dynamic processes that impact the assemblage of fungal communities on woody material and other heterogenous terrestrial substrates. The nature of the interaction between the individual fungal mycelia could have effects on the compatibility or incompatibility of the species as well as the survival of the population and subsequent development of the community. Incompatible interspecific interaction most often manifests in the form of combative interactions resulting in direct antagonism (e.g., hyphal interference, mycoparasitism) or indirect antagonism (e.g., barrage zones and antibiosis). Interspecific interaction that facilitates the decay of woody substrates is crucial for nutrient and carbon cycling in a forest ecosystem. Apart from functional roles in nutrient cycling, interspecific fungal interactions are also often accompanied by morphological, biochemical, and molecular changes in the interacting hyphae, which are further discussed in this chapter. A major challenge in studies of interspecific interaction is that observations under in vitro (laboratory) conditions may not fully correlate with the behavior of the same fungi in a natural ecosystem.