Interactions between western hemlock mycorrhizal fungi and wood rotting fungi in a system simulating Douglas-fir nurse logs in Pacific Northwest forests

Graduation date: 1996Presentation date: 1995-12-19Decomposing logs in Douglas-fir - western hemlock forests in the Pacific Northwest are systems in which many organisms interact. Fungi in these systems include both mycorrhizal fungi associated with hemlock seedlings and many species of saprotrophic wood decomposer fungi. It is very likely that these two groups of fungi interact within this habitat. Plate pairings between mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi on four different types of media were used as a preliminary investigation to determine\ud potential interactions which may occur in situ in these systems. Both mycorrhizal and\ud saprotrophic fungal growth varied according to medium composition, but were affected\ud very little by the presence of other fungi. Interpretation of in vitro interactions was\ud difficult because of absence of reactions between the fungi on some media, and variability of reactions on different media. Terminology in common use to describe fungal\ud interactions also impaired accurate characterization of interactions. This terminology is vague, often inappropriate, and does not capture the dynamic and temporal qualities of the interactions. Hence terminology for description of interspecific fungal interactions was reexamined and new terms proposed as deemed necessary