Impact of past management practices on fungal diversity in submontane temperate forests of Stołowe Mountains National Park, Poland

This study investigated the impact of past forest management on fungal diversity and ecology in the submontane temperate forests of Stołowe Mountains National Park, Poland. The aim was to describe macrofungal assemblages concerning historical management practices, focusing on the proportion of Norway spruce in semi-plantations compared with that in natural riparian and beech-dominated forests. We complemented traditional morphological identification with molecular barcoding of macrofungi using the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region. Additionally, developing generalized linear mixed-effects models we assessed the influence of environmental factors such as tree species composition, deadwood availability, light conditions, and soil pH on fungal diversity. In our survey, we identified 190 fungal taxa across different forest types, with significant differences in species richness and composition among spruce-dominated forests and riparian- and beech-dominated forests. This study revealed that tree species composition, light availability, and soil pH are the most important factors influencing fungal biodiversity, and that the characteristics of changes within the macrofungal community vary across trophic groups. • Macrofungal diversity of protected areas was investigated. • Different forest types hosted different fungal assemblages. • Most important factor impacted mycobiota was forest type. • Symbiotrophic fungi were linked to soil pH. • Saprotrophs were affected by lying deadwood availability. • Macrofungal communities are suitable as ecological indicators.