Wood-decaying fungi in boreal forest: are species richness and abundances influenced by small-scale spatiotemporal distribution of dead wood?

We tested whether the spatiotemporal distribution of Norway spruce (Picea abies) logs influenced species richness and abundances of wood-decaying fungi in two 2-km2 boreal forest study sites in southeastern Norway. According to the random sample null-hypothesis equally large subsamples of logs should be equally efficient in sampling fungi from a regional species pool. Based on 0.25-ha plots at 1-ha grid resolution, we compared plots with high and low densities of ‘new logs’ (decay stages 1–5) and plots with ‘old logs’ (decay stages 5–8) present or absent. Based on visible sporocarps, 45 fungus species, including 15 redlisted, were identified among 4151 logs. When rarefying species accumulation curves to the same number of logs, we [...]