FUNGAL COLONIZATION OF THE KEELSON TIMBERS OF A 19TH-CENTURY WOODEN FRIGATE

The spatial structure of fungal communities resident in the keelson an d associated sister keelson timbers of the Frigate Unicorn, the oldest floating British built (in 1824) ship, are described. Most of the cor es surveyed contained viable fungi; the timber was of poor integrity ( classified on a simplified three point scale) with corresponding high moisture content measurements ranging from 29 to 170%. At least 14 dif ferent fungal species were isolated of which there were numerous indiv iduals of each. Fungi such as Poria placenta (= Tyromyces placenta or Oligoporus placenta), Paecilomyces sp., Mucor sp., Coniophora marmorat a and Donkiopora sp., were identified. Such fungi are typically found colonising damp and poorly ventilated mining and building timbers, cau sing either insignificant, brown- or white-rot decay. These data sugge st that the decay of the keelson timbers has occurred relatively recen tly and rapidly. Statistical analyses (including a stepwise logistic r egression model) suggested that the colonization process in this insta nce was not simply directed by timber moisture relations and a hierarc hy of combative ability, but that other factors such as spatial consid erations and presence of inoculum were important. The results are disc ussed in terms of the ecological strategies of species per se, and the predicted development of community structures under different microcl imatic regimes and hence decay outcome. An understanding of such conce pts will be important in the philosophy of establishing by way of micr oclimatic manipulation, the promotion of a naturally inherent or indig enous biocontrol strategy.