EFFECTS OF FOREST HARVESTING IN FUNGAL COLONIZATION OF LENGA LEAF LITTER DECOMPOSITION IN TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA.

VERÓNICA PANCOTTO; ALICIA MORETTO; MARTA CABELLO; LORENA ELIADES; ROMINA MANSILLA; JAZMIN VRSALOVIC; JULIO ESCOBAR; M. VANESSA LENCINAS

Bragança, Portugal

Congreso; Landscape Ecology International Conference; 2010

Impacts of shelter-wood cut on fungal biodiversity in /Nothofagus pumilio/ (lenga) forests are little studied in Tierra del Fuego. /Nothofagus pumilio /is the most important timber species in the southern part of Patagonia. Our objective is to evaluate fungal colonization of lenga leaf litter in forests managed by shelter-wood cut. Three common situations were studied: 1) stockpiled and 2) shelter-wood harvested areas in forests harvested 1 year ago, and 3) undisturbed surrounding forest (control). Fungal biodiversity was assessed in collected litter-fall before filling litterbags and in litterbags after 253 days of decomposition in field. The richness of species was low: in the initial leaf litter, we identified 9 species; only 2 species were common with the 19 species found at 253 days. Stockpiled and harvested areas had more species and were more diverse than control (richness=10, 11 and 6 species; Shannon index= 2.10, 2.16 and 1.64, respectively). The percentage of rare species was higher in these areas in comparison with control sites (40%, 55% and 17%, respectively). Our results suggest that forest management influences fungal biodiversity and species community colonizing leaf litter. In an outlook interactions of fungal biodiversity and decomposition will be discussed