Wood-decaying polypores in the mountains of Central Argentina in relation to Polylepis forest structure and altitude

ROBLEDO G.; RENISON D.

Fungal Ecology

Elsevier

Año: 2010 vol. 3 p. 178 - 184

1754-5048

In most high mountain Polylepis forests of South America, long-term livestock rearing activities that include fires, browsing and trampling have delayed or stopped forest succession resulting in simplified landscapes with few or no mature forests. Many studies suggest restoring Polylepis forest extent and connectivity, but only recently have the first studies emphasized the importance of forest structure or successional stage. We investigated how richness of wood-decaying polypore fungi changes in relation to Polylepis australis forests successional stage and altitude above sea level. We sampled 48 forest plots of 900m2 in Central Argentina which included a range of successional stages - from abundant regeneration stages to rare mature forests. We recorded a total of 19 polypore species. Overall richness, increased with forest successional stage and with altitude above sea level, while endemic species richness was positively related only to altitude. Polypore community structure as exemplified by DCA Axes 1 and 2 were also related only to altitude with no pattern with forest successional stage, meaning polypore species are added during succession with no loss of early successional species. We conclude that P. australis forests of central Argentina must be managed to promote a higher proportion of mature forests and special emphasis must be placed on preserving forests at a range of altitudes, but especially highland areas where endemics polypore richness is highest.