6. Logging – Fungi Diversity – Mycorrhizae – Bacteria / Endangered Species

178.  Logging of ectomycorrhizal tree hosts removes the energy source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which will not fruit without their host plants.  Preservation of a threatened or endangered species involves preservation of its habitat and the diversity that habitat entails.  When such becomes a goal of forest management, managers need information not only on owls or small mammals, but also on the mycorrhizal fungi that form the base of the food web (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).

179.  Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and their interactions within forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative effect of a wide range of stresses on the ecosystem.  But integrative, research at the ecosystem level shows clearly that the many processes operating within forest inter- connect in important ways.  Further, diversity of microscopic and macroscopic plant and animal species is a key factor in maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988, pg1-par2). 

179.  Logging is removing material along with its ability to interact with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long period of forest successional history.  Large fallen trees can take more than 400 years to become incorporated into the forest floor (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988, pg37-last par).   Without this massive part of an organism, how do the associates function?  Which would mean, that over time the diverse amounts of gymnosperms and angiosperms removed would have served support for fungi of different species.  An example of a fungi obligatory for CWD of different types of wood is Ganoderma tsugae which is obligatory for tsugae snags or nurse logs.  Also, this 400 years of contributing to fungi, is a part of a system, made up of multi- parts and processes that make healthy forest.

180.  Logging is removing a storehouse for moisture, which would have provided moisture for plants and animals during dry times such as summer drought, as it may be called (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).

181.  Logging increases soil erosion.  Logging affects soil development in an unhealthy fashion.  Logging removes designed storehouses for nutrients, essential elements and water for soil, animals and plants.  Logging removes a potentially large source of energy (nutrients) and essential elements.  Logging removes seedbeds for plants.  Logging removes important habitat for fungi and arthropods. We know, During decomposition, logs and other forms of coarse woody debris (CWD) reduce erosion, affect soil development, store nutrients and water, are a potentially large source of energy (nutrients) and essential elements, serve as a seed bed for plants, and form an important habitat for fungi and arthropods (Kropp, 1982).

182.  Logging is removing structural components of great importance for forest dynamics and forest biodiversity.  The decomposition of trees provides an important link in cycling on nutrients in ecosystems.  In addition, many species of plants, fungi and animals are dependent on symplastless trees for salts of essential elements, nutrients, habitat or substrate and nesting (Kruys and Jonsson, 1999).

183.  Logging reduces and or removes future CWD. Fallen trees that are oriented along the contours of a slope seem to be used more by vertebrates than are trees oriented across contours, especially on steep slopes. Large, stable trees lying along contours help reduce erosion by forming a barrier to creeping and raveling soils.  Soil, nutrients and essential elements deposited along the up slope side of fallen trees reduce loss of nutrients and essential elements from the site. Such spots are excellent for the establishment and growth of vegetation, including tree seedlings.  Vegetation becomes established on and helps stabilize this "new soil", and as invertebrates and small vertebrates begin to burrow into the new soil, they not only nutritionally enrich it with their feces and urine but also constantly mix it by their burrowing activities (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).


184.  Logging is removing initial, optimal and final stages of fallen trees. Plant - nutrient / essential elements - and the succession of plants on fallen trees is mediated by changes in essential element availability and physical properties over time. Three broad phases can be defined: initial, optimal, final. Early invaders prepare the tree for later colonization by altering its physical and chemical properties during the initial phase.  The altered tree provides the best substrate for a wide array of organisms during the optimal phase. Ultimately, the depletion of essential elements and physical deterioration of the wood during the optimal phase diminish its value for many organisms, so fewer species inhabit the final phase (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 25-par 5). 

184.  Logging alters species of plants within the system. Studies show conifer logs, so called well rotted can be quite acid.  Ectomycorrhizae form with just a few fungi compared to adjacent less acid humus and soil (Trappe, 1977).  Conifers include but not limited to, Eastern Hemlock and Eastern White Pine.  Hickory is associated with ectomycorrhizae species.

186.  Logging not only has an effect on the chemistry of the life of owls or small mammals but also on the mycorrhizal fungi that form the base of the food web.  Preservation of a threatened or endangered species involves preservation of its habitat and the diversity that habitat entails.  Logging often is removal of ectomycorrhizal tree hosts, which removes the energy source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which will not fruit without their host plants (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).

187.  Ectomycorrhizae absorb moisture and essential elements, and translocate them to their host plants, making ectomycorrhizae essential for the development of such ecosystems (Harley and Smith 1983; Harvey and others 1979; Harvey and others 1987; Marks and Kozlowski 1973; Maser 1990).  Therefore, we assume their presence and abundance to be a good indicator of a healthy, functioning forest soil.  Ectomycorrhizae have a strong positive relationship with soil organic materials (Harvey and others 1981). Soil wood, humus, and the upper layers of mineral soil that are rich in organic matter are the primary substrates for the development of ectomycorrhizae  (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese, 1994).   (To mention some associated trees with ectomycorrhizae - Chestnut, Beech, Birch, Hickory, Oak, Hemlock and White Pine)

188.  Logging removes present as well as future CWD, which causes a temperature change as well as moisture.  The presence of CWD affects temperature as well as moisture that can have a benefit for certain beneficial fungi (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994). 

189.  Most planned logging overlooks fungal diversity in considerations of the management of forest. The more obvious plants and animals attract the attention of the casual observer, but foresters and ecologists need to recognize that the health of the forest depends on organisms and processes below ground (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994). 

190.  Logging has been noted to reduce the quality of materials left.  So called rotten wood served as mycorrhizal inoculum for containerized western hemlock seedlings. So-called rotten wood from a clear-cutting was less effective than that collected from a forest.  (Kropp, 1982) NOTE – A clear cut where everything is removed is NOT a FOREST!

191.  Logging has been noted to be the primary cause linked to reforestation problems where studies on logging were done (NOT DEER).
NATIONAL WOOD FIBER NEEDS indicate substantial increases in demand for wood fiber - based products. This demand has resulted in increased efforts to remove all available fiber at harvesting sites. Intensive fiber removal or intense wildfire potentially reduces the parent materials (duff and wood residues) available for the production of organic reserves in forest soils. This reserve, primarily in the form of humus, decayed wood, and charcoal, has been shown critical to the support of both nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixing and ectomycorrhizal activities in forest soils of western Montana.  Harvest and fire-caused reductions of organic materials on and in northern forest soils have been linked to reforestation problems. This study was undertaken to provide a preliminary estimate of the impact of varying amounts and kinds of soil organic matter on ectomycorrhizal development in mature western Montana forests (Harvey, Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981).

192.  Logging reduces soil organic matter thus reducing mycorrhizae during dry times or at dryer sites.
Both season and site affect the relation between the number of active ectomycorrhizae and soil organic matter in these ecosystems. In the dry season or on the drier site, the high soil organic matter content yielded larger numbers of active ectomycorrhizae than did the low organic matter conditions. Forest management decisions with potential to disturb soils and reduce woody residues, particularly in dry Northern Rocky Mountain habitat types, should take into consideration the importance of soil organic reserves and their affects on ectomycorrhizae as a factor in forest soil quality. A consistent effort should be made to retain a moderate quantity of large woody materials. Preliminary estimates indicate that approximately 25-37 tons/hectare (Harvey, Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981).

193.  Logging is removing materials that abiotic forces as well as biotic agents were designed to connect with, to establish good forest or system health.
In other words abiotic forces as well as biotic agents play key roles in system health.
Fire, fungi and invertebrates are all heavily involved in the creation and decomposition of CWD. Wind and fungi commonly function together to create CWD (Edmonds and Marra, 1999). 

194.  Logging removes habitat for the establishment of niches. As a symplastless fallen tree would have progressed from decay class I to class II, the scavengers would have been replaced by competitors with the enzyme systems needed to decompose the more complex compounds in wood. The fungi that would have been involve in this activity are often mutually antagonistic, so that a given part of the tree may have been occupied by only one fungus that would have excluded others by physical or chemical means (Maser and Trappe, 1984).   (We call this altered area a niche)  This fungus would be a part or the system.  How would this fungus survive without proper habitat for a niche?

195.  Logging often consist of removing heartwood - forming trees. Thus removing the unique features of the system, such as, but not limited too, various mites, insects, slugs, and snails which feed on higher plants that become established on so called rotten wood.  These plants also provide cover for animals, as do the lichens, mosses, and liverworts that colonize fallen trees in decay class IV.  Wood-boring beetles, termites, and carpenter ants produce channels in heartwood (heartwood forming trees) that would have provided passageways for roots.  The fruiting bodies of the mycorrhizal fungi, produced from energy supplied by the host plant, can also be a major source of food for insects, arthropods, and small mammals such as the California red-backed vole (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 29-par 4). 

196.  Logging is removing present and future materials that would have harbored a myriad of organisms, from bacteria and actinomycetes to higher fungi.  In fact, of these, only some of the fungi might be noticed by the causal observer as mushrooms or bracket fungi.  These structures, however, are merely the fruiting bodies produced by mold colonies within the log.  Many fungi fruit within the fallen tree, so they are seen only when the tree is torn apart.  Even when a fallen tree is torn apart, only a fraction of the fungi present are noticed because the fruiting bodies of most appear only for a small portion of the year.  The smaller organisms, not visible to the unaided eye, are still important components of the system (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg16-par 5).   

197.  Logging is removing mold colony habitat.

198.  Logging breaks many connections and processes of the ecosystem.  E.g., decayed heartwood (of heartwood forming trees) splits into chunks, (i.e., if not removed or shall I say if not killed); roots grow down the resulting cracks as well as along insect channels. 
Thus logging is removing shelter which invertebrates – from minute mites to centipedes, millipedes, slugs, and snails – would have found in these openings and passage along them, i.e., the cracks over many years (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 4). 

199.  Logging is removing present as well as future cover for vertebrates such as salamanders, shrews, shrew moles, and voles, which would have found cover under debris of sloughed bark and so called rotten wood alongside the class IV tree; they also would have found the so called rotten wood on the underside of the tree crumbly enough for digging tunnels or burrows. Fungi and other microorganisms abound on the wood itself as well as on the new substrates offered by the feces of animals (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 4). 

200.  Logging is removing opportunities for various interactions with the biotic components of soil and duff. Fungi, for instance, translocated essential elements within the soil- system, as both decomposers and root symbionts. Fungi also would have immobilized translocated essential elements and thereby enriched the decomposing wood substrates they would have inhabited. In addition, the colonization of decomposing fallen trees by nitrogen-fixing bacteria would have permitted additional nitrogen accretion within the decaying wood (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 19-par 3). 

201.  Logging removes material that animals were designed to Colonize. Colonization of decomposing wood by animals would have helped microbes to enter interior surfaces of the wood and created additional openings for entry of water and essential elements; and penetration of the wood by roots of trees, such as western hemlock for example, would have facilitated entry by mycorrhizal fungi (Maser and Trappe, 1984).

202.  Logging is removing a source of protein for fungi feeders. Fungi feeders, E.g., In the Northwest - California red-backed voles to black tailed deer, may obtain some of their protein nitrogen from decaying trees by feeding on fungal fruiting bodies, such as what some call truffles and mushrooms (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 36-par 3).        

203.  Logging is removing materials that in time would be decaying and would have contributed to long-term accumulation of soil organic matter, partly because the carbon constituents of the future well-decayed wood would have 80-90 percent residual lignin and humus (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin, 1988,pg44-par3).

204.  Logging is removing material that would be incorporated in the soil and would have aided the establishment of conifer seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi on dry sites.  (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin, 1988, pg44-par3).

205.  Logging is removing material that in time would have added to spatial, chemical, and biotic diversity of forest soils, and to the processes that maintain long-term forest productivity (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin, 1988,pg44-par3).

206.  Logging removes what may have contributed significantly to reestablishment of animal populations by providing pathways along which small mammals can venture into clearcuts and other bare areas. This has relevance to the reestablishment of tree seedlings on bared areas since survival and growth of new trees depend on development of appropriate mycorrhizal associations. Surprisingly, fungal symbionts apparently disappear from cutover areas shortly after their host trees are removed (Harvey et al. 1978a), and the sites must be reinoculated with their spores. Many mycosymbionts have underground fruiting bodies and completely depend on animals for dissemination of spores. Small mammals are the vectors. They consume the fungus and carry spores to new areas, thereby inoculating tree seedlings (Maser et al. 1978a, 1978b; Trappe and Maser 1978) (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981). 

207.  Logging is removing so called rotten wood or so called rotten wood to be.  So-called, rotten wood is critical as substrate for ectomycorrhizal formation.  E.g., in one forest which contained a coniferous stand of trees (Eastern Hemlock and White Pine are coniferous), over 95 percent of all active mycorrhizae were in organic matter of which 21 percent were in decayed wood.  In another study in the northern Rocky Mountains, decayed wood in soil was important.  In moist, mesic, and arid habitat types (Harvey et al. 1979) it was the most frequent substrate for active ectomycorrhizae on the dry site, probably because of high moisture levels in the wood.  Mycorrhizal fungi can colonize logs, presumably using them as sources of water, essential elements and nutrients.  (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981). 

208.  Logging is presumably removing a source of water, essential elements and nutrients for mycorrhizae (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981). 

209.  Logging removes present and future nurse logs, which mycorrhizae relationships may be an important factor to the establishment of seedlings on the latter.  These removed parts and processes would also be important to mature trees.  Just as quality and special properties of wood products vary by tree species. The natural ecological characteristics of logs also vary by species (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).  

210.  Logging removes sound CWD, which would have provided secure travel corridors for small mammals (Maser et al. 1979; Maser and Trappe 1984, pg12; Carter 1993), and would have provided subnivean habitat during winter. The value of this habitat is positively correlated with piece size (Maser and Trappe 1984; Hayes and Cross 1987; Carter 1993). Nordyke and Buskirk (1991) found that southern red-backed vole abundance was positively correlated with the decay stage of logs in the central Rocky Mountains. Maser and Trappe, 1984) and Rhoades (1986) reported associations of small mammals with CWD because of the food source provided by the fungal fruiting bodies growing in and on the CWD (Voller and Harrison, 1998).      

211.  Logging is removing a sound food source for small mammals (fungal fruiting bodies growing in and on CWD) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).      

212.  Logging removes present and future CWD, which would have functioned as seedbeds or nurse logs for some trees species and many species of bryophytes, fungi, and lichens, and some flowering plants (Table 7.6) (Samuelsson et al. 1994; D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995; E.C. Lea, pers. comm., 1995) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).   

213.  Logging removes future substrate, which has been known to strongly influence species richness.  Many plant species are either associated with CWD or perhaps with the fungi that use CWD as their parasitic intermediate, such as the gnome plant (Hypopitis congestum), candystick (Allotropa virgata), and other ericaceous species. Ryan and Fraser (1993) reported that cryptogam species richness in coastal Douglas-fir forests was strongly influenced by available substrate (Voller and Harrison, 1998).         

214.  Logging, in areas with trees, reduces, if not eliminates, the presence of CWD presently or over time.  In areas with rock substrate this logging would result in substantial decrease of species richness (Voller and Harrison, 1998).    

215.  Logging kills.  Dying, not killing, supports communities of a forest.  The review of Samuelsson et al. (1994) of CWD states that distinct Succession of bryophyte and lichen communities occurs as a trees symplast dies, fall, and decay (Voller and Harrison, 1998).    

216.  Logging removes (kills) CWD which studies in B.C., reveal that macrofungi are dependant on for survival.  Known decomposer macrofungi that are dependent on CWD include 162 species of bracket or shelf fungi/ conks, 364 species of other macrofungi, and some commercially harvested mushrooms, such as oyster mushrooms (S. Berch, pers. comm., 1995).  These communities play roles in the germination and growth of other epiphytic and quasi-epiphytic communities. Climatic factors influence epiphytic communities, with lichens dominating drier ecosystems and bryophytes replacing them as conditions become wetter. The longevity of individual pieces of CWD is critical to the persistence of many species with poor dispersal abilities. Dispersal in many species is from one log to the next, so logs close to each other are required. Samuelsson et al. (1994) note that large logs play a more important role than small logs in the ecology of bryophytes and lichens. Large logs last longer, have greater surface area, and have higher, steeper sides that prevent ground-dwelling species from invading. They may also be important in providing a relatively duff-free substrate for the establishment of some species of cryptogams (D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).   

217.  Logging is removing material that would have facilitated a slow release of essential elements, ameliorated leaching, and provided a growing substrate for bryophytes. (Harmon et al. 1986; FEMAT 1993; Samuelsson et al. 1994)  (Voller and Harrison, 1998).     

218.  Logging is removing material that would have buffered water and essential elements released from duff and above-ground processes, especially processes such as nitrogen fixation in above-ground plants such as hepatics (Harmon et al. 1986; FEMAT 1993; Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).     

219.  Bacteria are very small. They do big things (Shigo, 1999, #216 pg34)

220.  Logging is removing present and future woody residues and soil wood, which would have contained free-living bacteria, which would have fixed 30-60% the nitrogen in the soil of the forest.  In addition, 20% of soil nitrogen would have been stored in these components removed (Harvey et al. 1987). Harmon et al. (1986) reported that CWD accounted for as much as 45% of aboveground stores of organic matter (Voller and Harrison, 1998).      

221.  Logging removes present and future symplastless wood, which in terrestrial ecosystems would be primary location for fungal colonization and would have often acted as refugia for mycorrhizal fungi during ecosystem disturbance (Triska and Cromack 1979; Harmon et al. 1986; Caza 1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).      

222.  Logging is removing maternal that is needed for colonization by fungi and microbes.  This is thought to be disrupting one of the most important stages in essential element cycling (Caza 1993); however, these processes are still relatively poorly understood (Voller and Harrison, 1998).    

223.  Logging reduces soil wood. Soil wood contains a disproportionate amount of the coniferous non-woody roots or ectomycorrhizae in forests (Harvey et al. 1987) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).     

224.  Logging is removing one of the dominant sources of organic matter (Voller and Harrison, 1998).      

225.  Logging is removing an important determinant in soil formation and composition (Caza 1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).    

226.  Logging is not what man thought it was several years ago.  We should not blame people of the past.  Just recently have we learned about DNA.  Shigo, 1997 suggest there was one driving belief that set the stage for the growth of arboriculture in the United States. That belief is now over three centuries old, and it has moved as a wave. When a wave hits the shoreline, the crash back into the water is much more intense than the inward rush of water. The belief that grew after our country was colonized in 1620 was that the trees were endless and they were the enemy. Trees were in the way of farms, homes, towns and roads. Yes, they did have some value for buildings and for fires, but their size and abundance made them more of a problem than a benefit. Over time, the value of trees did increase, but the belief in endless forests continued.
In recent decades, the great wave with power of more than three centuries behind it hit a very steep shoreline. The crash of the wave signaled the end of the belief that the forests were endless.
Man sometimes – learns the hard way.  But now we know and need to act appropriately.  Few studies have examined processes, other than nitrogen fixation, that are responsible for net changes in nutrient and essential element content of coarse woody debris. It was tempting in the past to assume that the processes are the same as in fine duff, but recent research being conducted at Andrews indicates some differences.
    1.    For example, during the early stages of log decomposition, fungal sporocarps transfer nutrients to the forest floor. Thus, in fine duff, fungi immobilize nitrogen, but in coarse woody debris they actively transfer it to the soil.
    2.    Another important consideration in understanding nutrient release from coarse woody debris is that tree boles are composed of several distinct substrates. While wood may be slowly releasing nutrients, other parts such as the inner bark (phloem) decompose and release nutrients at rates similar to those of leaf duff. Hence an overall pattern of release from symplastless trees may be a rapid loss of 10-20% of the nutrients followed by an extended slower release of nutrients.
    3.    Finally, the role of fragmentation in transferring nutrients to fine duff in the later stages of woody debris decomposition is not revealed by patterns of net accumulation. The omission of transfers via fragmentation from previous calculations suggests (Harmon and Hua, 1991).  (NOTE:  it may be specifically unclear whether the paper is referring to salts of essential elements or a true nutrient.  Both exist, and are essential for system health.)

227.  Conclusion:  The capacity and ability, of CWD, to be a major habitat, substrate and in some cases niche for fungi and play a key role in fungi diversity too often goes unobserved in this Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project.  What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability, of CWD, to play key roles with respect to beneficial bacteria go unobserved in such cases as the Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project?


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