10-11-2002, 09:06 PM
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Truffles and James Beard and Psilocybe mushrooms: Oh my!
(Daniel B. Wheeler) wrote in message
One of the things that would dramatically increase forest productivity
and growth is inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi. Since these fungi
are not generally introduced in forestry, it is something that private
foresters must look into themselves.
Why are mycorrhizal fungi important? The gather water for their host
trees. The are associated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. They can be a
seperate crop in their own right (truffles, Boletus, matsutake,
chanterelles, pigs ears, Dentinum repandum, etc.). According to Dr.
James Trappe of Oregon State University, they *appear* to act as
fungal prophylactics against root rots. They may increase the lifespan
of trees.
And yet...with a very few notable exceptions, mycorrhizal fungi are
not considered in forestry.
Good point! I like "outside the box" forestry, especially when you
start to see it become "inside the box". Refresh my memory, because
its been awhile since my fungi and disease course, but I recall
studying certain mycorrhizal fungi that acted as a go-between for
different tree species that are often associated with each other. I
think we were looking at white pine and birch; and we were tracing
radioactive isotopes through the mycorrhizal network between trees of
those two species. Kind of enforced the idea of managing for
ecological communities, not strictly stand (tree) types.
As for your prophylactics, I've a friend who has taken that up as her
undergrad thesis this year. She is using an increment bore to take
samples from different tree species and putting this into some sort of
medium in a petri dish. I think that she is trying to isolate these
fungi to innoculate both standing timber and maybe even log decks, as
these fungi are known to attack decay organisms. I love forestry...
it blows my mind, the kinds of things that are going on in the forest!
If you could correct my terminology and assumptions for me Daniel,
that'd be great! G
Scott
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