Fungal community dynamics in coarse woody debris across decay stage, tree species, and stand development stage in northern boreal forests

Abstract

Fungi are primary agents of coarse woody debris (CWD) decay in boreal forests, playing an essential role in nutrient cycling and carbon storage. We compared fungal community assemblages using alpha and beta diversity metrics, and physical and chemical properties of CWD across three tree species (trembling aspen [ Populus tremuloides], black spruce [ Picea mariana], and jack pine [ Pinus banksiana]), five decay classes, and two stand development stages, differing in time since stand replacing disturbance in Ontario’s boreal forest region. We sampled 180 individual CWD logs from 6 independent stands, with 3 replicates per each species × decay class combination at each site. Using high-throughput sequencing of marker DNA, we found that fungal community structure significantly differed across tree species, decay stage, and stand age. Fungal diversity was highest in decay class 4 CWD. We found that Mn and K concentrations, total carbon, C/N ratio, N/P ratio, and moisture content were important predictors of fungal composition across CWD species and/or decay stage. This study suggests that forest management guidelines that consider both deadwood quantity and quality will support a broader range of fungal species and communities through post-disturbance stand development.