ABSTRACT

Risberg, L., Danell, E. & Dahlberg, A. 2004. Finns goliatmusseronen enbart i tallskogar som aldrig kal­avverkats? [Is Tricholoma matsutake associated with continuity of Scots pine trees?] – Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 98: 317–327. Uppsala. ISSN 0039-646X.

Clear-cutting may have a negative impact on the long-term survival of certain ectomycorrhizal fungi in boreal forests. The species concerned are those that depend mainly on the persistence of established mycelia, while having difficulties establishing from spores. We explored this hypothesis by examining the forest stand history of 72 localities for the much sought-for Tricholoma matsutake in northern and southern Sweden. Despite particularly searching for the species in young forests, no stand where it occurred was less than 50 years old, nor was it found in any previously clear-cut stands. In the fourteen examined stands that were less than 100 years old, the trees were all of a similar age, suggesting that the area had been clear-cut. However, field surveys and examination of aerial photographs from the 1940s and 1950s revealed that there had, after all, been a continuity of trees via seed trees that had subsequently been removed. The mean ages of the forest stands in northern and southern part of Sweden were 115 and 148 years, respectively. On average, the maximum age of individual trees was 174 years in the northern stands and 205 years in the south. In 70 of the 72 stands, we could verify a continuity of trees. The study suggests that T. matsutake is a species mainly found in fairly old forests in Sweden, probably due to the fact that it is adapted to mycelial survival rather than spore establishment.