Geographical gradients in fungal communities and decay types of Norway spruce logs across central to southeastern Europe
Wood decomposition by fungal communities plays a crucial role in regulating carbon dynamics and biodiversity within coarse woody debris (CWD), and these processes may be influenced by environmental change. However, the geographical distribution and functional roles of wood-decaying fungi are poorly explored. In the present study, we focused on CWD of Norway spruce, a dominant conifer species widely distributed in western Eurasia. Chemical analyses of 374 wood samples from six forest sites in central and southeastern Europe revealed a positive association between mean annual temperature (MAT) and dilute alkali solubility, a proxy for brown rot. DNA metabarcoding revealed associations between climatic conditions and wood-decaying fungal communities. Remarkably, the occurrence frequency of the dominant brown rot fungus, Fomitopsis pinicola , was positively correlated with MAT. These findings suggest that higher temperatures may promote lignin accumulation in Norway spruce CWD across central to southeastern Europe, potentially contributing to carbon storage in forests.
Authors
- Yuki Kawasaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3853-8493)
- Yu Fukasawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3734-3037)
- Václav Pouska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0388-6065)
- Nickolay Tsvetanov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3156-4939)
- Momchil Panayotov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1600-9352)
- Olga Orman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6743-1599)
- Elias Polemis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2728-7350)
- Kamil Král (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3848-2119)
- Lucie Zíbarová
- Miroslav Svoboda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4050-3422)
- Martin Mikoláš (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3637-3074)
- Tomáš Přívětivý (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4199-5812)
- Radek Bače (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6872-1355)
- Shunsuke Matsuoka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3723-8800)
- Hirotoshi Sato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4489-6569)
Institutions
- Agricultural University of Athens (GR)
- University of Forestry (BG)
- Tohoku University (JP)
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZ)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- University of Agriculture in Krakow (PL)
- Institute of Landscape Ecology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Fungal ecology
- Published
- 2025-12-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2025.101482
- Primary Topic
- Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00