<i>Pleurotus abieticola</i> (<i>Agaricales</i>, <i>Basidiomycota</i>) as a pioneer xylosaprotroph associated with spruce sites dieback caused by <i>Ips typographus</i>

The xylosaprotrophic agaricomycete Pleurotus abieticola, described in 1997, is still poorly studied in ecological terms. The objective of this paper is to study the ecological characteristics of P. abieticola using the material from two large dry spruce sites (causal agent Ips typographus) in the Gladyshevsky and Shchuchye Lake protected areas (Saint Petersburg, Russia), where mass fructification of this species was found. The field species identification was confirmed by the results of ITS rDNA sequencing. A detailed study of drying stands revealed new fine features of the ecology and morphology of P. abieticola. A saprotrophic pioneer complex which includes P. abieticola has been identified (Fomitopsis pinicola, Trichaptum abietinum, Gloeophyllum sepiarium, Armillaria ostoyae, Amaropostia stiptica, Exidia nigricans, E. saccharina, Dacrymyces stillatus, Heterobasidion parviporum, Phlebiopsis gigantea, Stereum sanguinolentum). The causes of the mass distribution of Pleurotus abieticola in spruce stands affected by Ips typographus are discussed.