Document

Title

Emergence of morel (Morchella) and pixie cup (Geopyxis carbonaria) ascocarps in response to the intensity of forest floor combustion during a wildfire
Document Type: Journal Article
Author(s): D. F. Greene; M. Hesketh; E. Pounden
Publication Year: 2010

Cataloging Information

Keyword(s):
  • British Columbia
  • Canada
  • combustion
  • distribution
  • duff
  • duff
  • fire intensity
  • fire management
  • forest management
  • fruiting
  • fungi
  • fungi
  • montane forests
  • Morchella
  • mushroom
  • mushrooms
  • mycorrhiza
  • national parks
  • organic layer
  • roots
  • smoldering combustion
  • surface fires
  • trees
  • wildfires
Topic(s):
Region(s):
Record Maintained By:
TTRS Staff; https://talltimbers.org/contact-us
Record Last Modified: June 1, 2018
FRAMES Record Number: 48970
Tall Timbers Record Number: 25229
TTRS Location Status: Not in file
TTRS Call Number: Not in File
TTRS Abstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

Description

We studied the density of ascocarps (mushrooms) of morels (Morchella) and pixie cups (Geopyxis carbonaria) as a function of postfire duff (forest floor organic layer) depth in the first 4 y after a wildfire. The great majority of ascocarps of both species appeared in the first summer (2004) after an Aug 2003 fire in predominantly pine-spruce montane stands in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia. The spatial distribution of the ascocarps of both species was strongly biased toward (i) microsites with thin postfire duff and (ii) proximity to standing burned tree trunks. The bases of ascocarps of both species invariably were found just below the surface of the mineral soil. A field experiment in nearby intact forest showed that complete or partial duff removal in the absence of damage to the roots or crown did not lead to ascocarps of either species. We conclude that for both fungal species an unusually large abundance of ascocarps simultaneously requires damage to the associated trees and major duff reduction. © 2010 by the Mycological society of America, Lawrence, KS 66044-8897.

Citation:
Greene, D. F., M. Hesketh, and E. Pounden. 2010. Emergence of morel (Morchella) and pixie cup (Geopyxis carbonaria) ascocarps in response to the intensity of forest floor combustion during a wildfire. Mycologia, v. 102, no. 4, p. 766-773. 10.3852/08-096.