Spatial pattern of downed logs and wood‐decaying fungi in an old‐growth Picea abies forest

. Since many wood-living forest species are influenced by the dynamics of coarse woody debris (CWD), information about the spatial pattern of CWD under natural conditions is essential to understand species distributions. In this study we examined the spatial pattern of downed logs and wood-decaying fungi in an old-growth boreal Picea abies forest in northwestern Sweden that is governed by gap-phase dynamics. The spatial pattern of wood-decaying fungi was studied to draw conclusions about species dispersal abilities. A total of 684 logs with a diameter > 10 cm were mapped and analysed with Ripley's K-function. The distribution of all logs taken together displayed a significant aggregated pattern up to 45 m. The different decay stages also deviated from random expectations. Fairly fresh logs and logs in the middle decay stage were clumped up to about 25 and 35 m respectively, and late decayed logs aggregated up to 95 m. Logs with diameters from 10–29 cm were aggregated up to 25 m, whereas logs ≥30 cm diameter were randomly distributed. The result suggests that gap-dynamics do have an impact on the spatial pattern of the CWD, creating fine-scale clumping. The random distribution of large logs may result from the slightly regular spacing of large living trees. The spatial patterns of 16 species (n > 20) of wood-decaying fungi were analysed with Ripley's K-function. Three patterns were aggregated, for Gloeophyllum sepiarium, Coniophora olivacea and Vesiculomyces citrinus. These results indicate that the distribution of most species at the stand level is generally not influenced by dispersal limitations.

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