Pennsylvania Game News - July 2014 - 22

Allegheny woodrat ingests fungi in all
seasons, and fungi, for example puffballs and species of mushroom in the
genus Russula, are commonly found in
woodrat food caches. Mushrooms are
nurseries, homes and food sources for
invertebrates, for example the pleasing fungus beetle. Robins, blue jays
and wrens have been seen shredding
mushrooms presumably to consume
insect larvae. Mushrooms are commonly eaten by box turtles. I found
newly hatched red backed salamanders
under a damp, rotting sulphur fungus,
and both prey - earthworms - and
predator - long-tailed salamanders -
under a rotting hemlock fungus.
The impacts of fungi on wild plants
and animals are pervasive. They're parasites, pathogens, biological controls
and food items. But by far their major
roles in maintaining and changing forested habitats are: 1) forming mutually
beneficial partnerships with trees and
other plants; 2) parasitizing weak and
diseased trees; and 3) decomposing
plant and animal waste and recycling
nutrients back into the soil.
The mushrooms we see growing
are just part of a fungus. Most of it, 90
percent or more, is underground or in
wood and consists of a web-like network of microscopically thin threads.
This network is called a mycelium.
Under suitable conditions, the living
and expanding mycelium will produce
above-ground (mushroom) or subsurface (truffle) fruiting bodies that are
relatively short-lived. These fruiting
bodies produce spores, a few of which
might develop into new fungi.
Underground, the living microthreads of numerous fungal species
connect to the rootlets of trees and
other plants. This functions somewhat
22

like a vast expansion of the plants' root
system. Through this connection, the
fungus receives sugars and nutrients
from the photosynthesizing plant and,
in turn, provides the plant with water,
mineral nutrients, and protection
against pathogens, some pollutants
and droughts. Most wild plants are
connected to a fungal partner. Forest
wildlife food and cover webs would be
substantially different without this mutually beneficial and hidden partnership. For one thing, periodic droughts,
which seem to be increasing in frequency and severity, would result in the
deaths of more trees. It's possible, too,
for instance, that our drier ridgetops
would be barren of trees without this
living water-delivery system. Making
matters worse, without these soil fungi,
new, replacement tree seedlings might
not survive because they're unable to
obtain the nutrients and minerals they
need for rapid growth.
Another set of fungi are nourished
by decomposing dead-plant tissues.
They play a key role in recycling nutrients and promoting the growth of tree
seedlings. Without these wood-rotting
fungi, fallen trees and limbs would take
much longer to decay. Not only would
nutrients be locked up but there would
be a fuel build-up on the forest floor
and wildfires would be more severe.
The U.S. Forest Service acknowledges
that in the arid, western United States,
"where moisture is too scarce to support
fungal decay, fire is the primary mechanism for removing dead trees and limbs
from the forest floor."
Insects, storms, fire, and natural
loss of limbs are a few of the causes of
tree wounds. Decomposer fungi (heart
rot and sap rot fungi), carpenter ants
and other small organisms infect these
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Pennsylvania Game News - July 2014

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