Elevated tropospheric CO2 and O3 may not alter initial wood decomposition rate or wood-decaying fungal community composition of Northern Hardwoods

Published Date
July 2016, Vol.111:74–77, doi:10.1016/j.ibiod.2016.04.026

Short communication

Title 

Elevated tropospheric CO₂ and O₃ may not alter initial wood decomposition rate or wood-decaying fungal community composition of Northern Hardwoods

• Author 

• Emmanuel Ebanyenle ^a,,
• Andrew J. Burton ^a,
• Andrew J. Storer ^a,
• Dana L. Richter ^a,
• Jessie A. Glaeser ^b,

• aEcosystem Science Center, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI, 49931-1295, USA
• bCenter for Forest Mycology Research, US Forest Service, Northern Research Station, One Gifford Pinchot Drive, Madison, WI, 53726, USA

Received 3 February 2016. Revised 16 April 2016. Accepted 22 April 2016. Available online 30 April 2016.

Highlights

• •
  Wood from trees grown in elevated CO₂ and/or O₃ did not have altered first-year decay rates.
• •
  Wood-decaying fungal communities were unchanged by 12 years of elevated CO₂and/or O₃.
• •
  Wood placement in elevated CO₂ and/or O₃ conditions did not significantly alter decomposition.
• •
  Tree species differed in wood decay rate and the fungal communities involved.
• •
  Elevated CO₂ and O₃ may impact wood decay by altering forest community composition.

Abstract

We examined the effects of elevated CO₂ and/or O₃ on the wood-decaying basidiomycete fungal community and wood decomposition rates at the Aspen Free-Air CO₂ and O₃ Enrichment (Aspen FACE) project. Mass loss rates were determined after one year of log decomposition on the soil surface, and wood-decaying basidiomycetes were isolated from decaying wood and identified via DNA sequencing. Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) and birch (Betula papyriferaMarshall) wood differed significantly in wood-decaying basidiomycete fungal communities and decomposition rate. Twelve years of site exposure to elevated CO₂and/or O₃ did not have significant effects on wood-decaying fungal communities. Growth under elevated CO₂ and/or O₃ did not produce wood that differed in decay rate from that grown under ambient atmospheric conditions. Similarly, wood decay rate was not altered significantly when decomposition occurred in elevated CO₂and/or O₃ environments. Our results suggest that wood-decaying fungal community composition and decomposition rates of northern hardwoods may not be directly affected by elevated tropospheric CO₂ and O₃.

Keywords

• Elevated atmospheric CO₂
• Elevated atmospheric O₃
• Wood decomposition
• Fungal community
• Northern hardwoods

---

 Table 1

Table 1.

 Table 2

Table 2.

• ∗ 
  Corresponding author. CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, UPO 63, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana.

For further details log on website :

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096483051630124X