Fungal communities in veteranised oak branches are not a replacement for naturally occurring dead wood communities

ABSTRACT

Veteranisation is a promising management technique for dead wood creation at sites where dead wood, and ancient and veteran tree abundance is limited; it aims to replicate the microhabitats associated with ancient and veteran trees in younger trees by controlled physical damage of woody tissues. Five veteranisation treatments were applied, using a chainsaw, to healthy branches within the crowns of three mature oak trees. Treatments consisted of variations of cambium girdling, lopping, and lopping with girdling in combination; in addition, two branches that had died naturally were selected from each tree for comparison. Veteranised branches were harvested after 14 months. The fungal community composition was determined in different parts of the branch and their 3-dimensional structure mapped in representative branches. Stereum gausapatum was the most frequently isolated basidiomycete from veteranised branches, which occurred in all treatment types. The most commonly isolated ascomycete of veteranised branches was Ophiostoma quercus, which caused distinctive pockets of discoloured wood and was associated with half girdle treatments. There were significant differences in fungal species composition between veteranised branches and branches that had died naturally. This compositional difference may influence the development of later stage fungal communities, managers must consider these community compositional differences when prescribing veteranisation.

KEYWORDS:

• Dead wood
• veteranisation
• fungal communities, conservation, oak

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Jake Radford, Ian Chedgy, Poppy Wilson, and John Pyne for their assistance in the field. We also thank the Forestry Commission for use of their site.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Many thanks to the Arboricultural Association for providing grant funding for molecular work.

Notes on contributors

E. J. Pyne

E. J. Pyne is a PhD researcher at Bangor University investigating fungal antagonistic interactions with a focus on the ecology and biocontrol of Armillaria species. His research interests include all aspects of wood-inhabiting fungal ecology.

E. C. Gilmartin

E. C. Gilmartin is an ecologist with a particular interest in ancient, veteran and heritage trees. With a fungal ecology PhD from Cardiff University, she has contributed to research on wood decay and tree hollowing. Most recently, she worked as a conservation advisor at the Woodland Trust

Lynne Boddy

Lynne Boddy MBE FRSB FLSW is a Professor of Microbial Ecology at Cardiff University. She has researched the ecology of wood decomposition and wood decay fungi since the mid-1970s. She is internationally recognised for her pioneering work on fungal community structure and dynamics in wood.