A. Jumpponen et al., Ectomycorrhizal fungi in Lyman Lake Basin: a comparison between primary and secondary successional sites, MYCOLOGIA, 91(4), 1999, pp. 575-582
The results of eight years of study of the ectomycorrhizal macrofungi at th
e subalpine Lyman Lake Basin (Glacier Peak Wilderness area in the North Cas
cade Mountains, Washington, USA) are reported. The basin was divided into t
hree sites: the primary successional glacier forefront vs two secondary suc
cessional habitats (subalpine parkland and old-growth montane Tsuga mertens
iana-Abies amabilis). The 145 collections of ectomycorrhizal fungi obtained
represented 68 species, 25 genera, 14 families and 7 orders. The Cortinari
aceae was the most species-rich family with 25 species. Cortinarius was the
most species-rich genus with 17 species. The two secondary successional si
tes shared 12.1% of the species; while the primary successional site shared
only 2 and 5.1%, respectively, with the two secondary successional sites.
No ectomycorrhizal species occurred on all three sites. The secondary succe
ssional sites shared 7 species (Boletus edulis, Elaphomyces granulatus, Hyd
notrya variiformis, Rhizopogon subsalmoneus, Rh. vulgan's, Russula silvicol
a and Thaxterogaster pingue) while the primary successional site shared two
species with the parkland (Suillus aeruginascens and Su. cavipes) and only
one with the montane site (Inocybe lacera). Fifty-eight species occurred a
t only one site. These data show that the communities of ectomycorrhizal fu
ngi differ between the primary and secondary successional sites. We hypothe
size that fungal life history strategies and habitat characteristics are mo
re important determinants of succession of mycorrhizal fungi than host age
or physiology as suggested by the relatively simple early- and late-stage m
odel.