Microfungi in the soil of Scots pine forest in Poland and Germany

Abstract

The soil microfungi in two 17-year-old Scots pine forest soils were surveyed. One forest was located in Poland, and the other in Germany,300 km apart. The total number of fungal taxa detected was 55 and included 11 zygomycetes, 1 ascomycete and 43 mitosporic fungi. From the Polish and German soils, 145 and 122 isolates representing 43 and 32 fungal species, respectively, were recorded. The most common genera were Penicillium (25% and 44%) with 11 and 8 species, Umbelopsis (15% and 14%) with 2 species, Oidiodendron griseum (10% and 9%), Mortierella (8% and 3%) with 4 and 2 species, and Trichodemta (6% and 2%) with 3 and 2 species, in the Polish and German soils, respectively. Only 18 taxa (32.7%) were recorded in both soils. Twenty five separate taxa (45.5%) were re00rded only in the Polish, and 12 taxa (21.8%) only in the German soil. Three dominant species, with percentage > 3% in the fungal community, found in both soils were Umbelopsis vinacea (13.8% and 8.2%), Oidiodendron griseum (10.3% and 9%) and Penicillium janczewskii (3.4% and 11.5%). The small number of fungi shared by both soils contributes to the opinion that there is a high species diversity among the microfungi in one European Scots pine forest soil ecosystem.