Nutrient composition of epigeous fungal sporocarps growing on different substrates in a New Zealand mountain beech forest

Abstract

Fungal sporocarps of selected species were collected from two substrates (standing dead spars and fallen logs, and the forest floor) in mountain beech (Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides) forest. Sporocarp C, N, P, Ca, K, Mg, Si, Al, andNa concentrations were determined. There was considerable variation in mineral element concentrations between species but this variation did not strongly relate to substrate, e.g., sporocarp N concentrations ranged from 12.1 mg g‐1 for Daldinia concentrica to 55.1 mg g‐1 for Pluteus cf. readii. Both species were found on decaying woody sustrates which had a mean N concentration of 1.5 mg g‐1. Except for Ca, nutrient concentrations were much higher in sporocarps than in substrates upon which they occurred. The high nutrient concentrations of sporocarps, particularly those found on standing dead spars and fallen logs, relative to their associated substrate, have important implications for ecosystem nutrient cycling.