Volume 66, July 2016, Pages 275–280
- Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, EE-51014 Tartu, Estonia
- Received 10 August 2015, Revised 27 January 2016, Accepted 1 February 2016, Available online 13 February 2016
Highlights
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- Drained pine wetlands had a sparse tree-cavity supply and few cavity nesters.
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- Fruit-bodies of Phellinus pini explained >50% variation in cavity-nester densities.
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- Snags and tree-cavity counts were less useful as indicators.
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- Phellinus pini can serve as an indicator and flagship for tree-cavity management.
Abstract
Foresters
and arborists have long used fruit-bodies of heart-rot fungi as signs
of advanced live-tree decay, but such usage has not been elaborated for
forest conservation. I analysed relationships between a heart-rot
fungus, tree-cavity supply, and cavity-nesting bird assemblage in wet
hemiboreal Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forests in Estonia. The focal species, Phellinus pini,
is the main heartwood decayer of live pines; it typically forms
fruit-bodies at the stage of advanced decay on old trees. I found that
the pine wetlands had few tree-cavities (mostly in snags) and
cavity-nesting birds (woodpeckers being almost absent) despite abundant
snag supply. Only one fruit-body of P. pini was found on
cavity-tree but stand-scale abundance of the fruit-bodies correlated
well with cavity-nester densities. Multifactor models indicated that
cavity formation, not tree death, was the limiting process for secondary
cavity-nesters, and P. pini could indeed be used (in
combination with old-pine abundance) for assessing their habitat
quality. This fungus could also serve as an educational flagship species
to bridge conservation biology and forest pathology, and its
fruit-bodies can signal trees to be retained at harvesting in pine
forests. The conclusion is that there is hope for developing practical
indicators to manage for the hidden decay processes that govern
tree-cavity development.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Heart decay fungi;
- Hole-nesting passerines;
- Pinus sylvestris;
- Snag;
- Tree cavity;
- Woodpecker
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