Summary European forestry strategies place emphasis on developing alternative management practices to clearfelling within commercial forests as a means of increasing the non-market benefi ts of sustainable forestry. In the UK, many thousands of hectares of forest are being transformed to continuous cover forestry and a number of minimum intervention natural reserves are being created to encourage the development of old-growth conditions. This paper defi nes the term ‘old growth’ in the context of upland spruce-dominated plantations in Britain and evaluates different options for the location, design and management of old-growth areas to enhance biodiversity. Evidence outside of Britain from semi-natural analogues of upland spruce plantations suggests that old growth can develop 100–200 years after stand initiation in those parts of the landscape not subject to frequent catastrophic disturbance by wind and fi re. Old-growth stands in these forests are characterized by a high proportion of large, old trees, multiple age classes and high volumes of fallen and standing deadwood. Studies of old spruce stands in the British uplands suggest that old-growth features can begin to develop after 80–100 years, conferring substantial benefi ts to species-groups such as hole-nesting birds, mammals (e.g. red squirrel), bryophytes, lichens and fungi. Based on the likelihood of wind damage it is suggested that ~50 per cent of the current land area in upland Britain could support large patches (50–100+ ha) of old growth. To enhance colonization by woodland species, these old-growth patches should be within 2 km of existing semi-natural woodland, managed ideally on a minimum intervention basis. If production of timber was also an objective, old-growth stands could be managed by single tree selection or small group-fell silviculture, provided that over-prolifi c regeneration of shade-tolerant conifers was controlled and some deadwood and veteran trees were maintained. In surrounding areas subject to normal patch-clearfelling, small enclaves of old-growth forest (0.25–2 ha) could be retained to provide temporary habitat for species and facilitate dispersal through the landscape. The planning and design of old-growth areas needs to be considered at the landscape scale to ensure an appropriate balance between old growth and other types of woodland and nonwoodland habitats. An imaginative approach to incentives will be required to encourage positive management for old growth.

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Benefits to biodiversity from developing old-growth conditions in British upland spruce plantations: a review and recommendations

Summary Stipitate hydnoid (‘tooth’) fungi are considered to be threatened throughout much of central and northern Europe. In response to concern about the status of these fungi in the UK, a Biodiversity Action Plan has been developed for 14 species in this group. As a first step towards implementation of this plan, a number of surveys have been initiated, to determine the current status and distribution of hydnoid fungi. An overview of the results of these surveys is described. A series of distribution maps are presented, based on a compilation of early records and the results of a recent field survey in Scottish coniferous forests. The difficulties of interpreting early records are discussed, with particular reference to the taxonomie confusion that has surrounded this group of fungi. Although available data provide little evidence for decline of hydnoid fungi, a number of species display very restricted distributions within Scotland. The recent discovery of several species new to Britain emphasises the ...

Progress towards implementing the Biodiversity Action Plan for stipitate hydnoid fungi in Scotland

Now you see it, now you don't : the challenge of detecting, monitoring and conserving ectomycorrhizal fungi

Nitrogen deposition alters forest ecosystems particularly in high elevation, montane habitats where nitrogen deposition is greatest and continues to increase. We collected soils across an elevational (788–1940 m) gradient, encompassing both abiotic (soil chemistry) and biotic (vegetation community) gradients, at eight locations in the southern Appalachian Mountains of southwestern North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. We measured soil chemistry (total N, C, extractable PO4, soil pH, cation exchange capacity [ECEC], percent base saturation [% BS]) and dissected soil fungal communities using ITS2 metabarcode Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Total soil N, C, PO4, % BS, and pH increased with elevation and plateaued at approximately 1400 m, whereas ECEC linearly increased and C/N decreased with elevation. Fungal communities differed among locations and were correlated with all chemical variables, except PO4, whereas OTU richness increased with total N. Several ecological guilds (i.e., ectomycorrhizae, saprotrophs, plant pathogens) differed in abundance among locations; specifically, saprotroph abundance, primarily attributable to genus Mortierella, was positively correlated with elevation. Ectomycorrhizae declined with total N and soil pH and increased with total C and PO4 where plant pathogens increased with total N and decreased with total C. Our results demonstrate significant turnover in taxonomic and functional fungal groups across elevational gradients which facilitate future predictions on forest ecosystem change in the southern Appalachians as nitrogen deposition rates increase and regional temperature and precipitation regimes shift.

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L.V. Fleming

Papers

Status and distribution of stipitate hydnoid fungi in Scottish coniferous forests