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Fire-loving
Fungi Benefit from Restoration with Burning
In
southwest Cook County, Field Museum scientists are studying
a number of organisms in Swallow Cliff Woods — from
birds to beetles — to determine how these organisms
respond to restoration.
A
large unrestored area of Cap Sauers Holdings, a mile west,
serves as the control plot. Gregory Mueller and Patrick
Leacock, with the assistance of students and volunteers,
are studying the area’s mushrooms. Fungi are crucial
members of the ecosystem and serve many roles including
nutrient recycling (through decomposition) and aiding plant
vigor via mycorrhizal partnerships.
At
Swallow Cliff, Forest Preserve staff conducted spring burns
in 1999 and 2000. Using temperature sensing pellets, Leacock
and students found that as the fire consumed the litter
layer (primarily oak leaves), the soil surface experienced
temperatures in excess of 115 to 250° F, rarely 390°
F. However, only 3 cm (about an inch) below the surface,
temperatures remained below 115° F, indicating that
fungi and other soil organisms were not affected.
Woody
plant basal area measurements documented the noticeable
reduction in shrub cover. Three years of baseline data prior
to restoration and two subsequent years of sampling have
revealed high fungal diversity of 250 species in four 0.1
hectare plots. Sampling in 1998-2000 turned up 10 to 30
additional species in the plots each year, so even after
the fifth year the total diversity of fungi cannot be reliably
estimated.
No
negative impact of burning on fungi has been seen. But Mueller’s
team was especially on the lookout for pyrophilous (fire-loving)
fungi. The one they found was unexpected. The many-colored
pholiota (Pholiota polychroa), began to appear after the
first burn and became common the second year on burned wood.
Having seen this mushroom before in burned woodlands, Mueller
and Leacock now think its fruiting is fire-induced, a new
discovery for this species. They anticipate that reduced
shrub cover and increased regeneration of oaks will promote
greater diversity of fungi and other organisms as the woodland
becomes more diverse in age structure. Restoration benefits
not only native plants, but also the ecosystem’s animals
and fungi. — Patrick Leacock
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