The conservation strategy of a short lifespan and small genet fungus after thinning

Thinning removes a fraction of trees within a stand and as a result, forest fungi faces threats, such as habitat loss and fragmentation. After thinning, a reduction in sporocarp production of small and isolated fungal populations may be particularly worrisome from a conservation perspective.A clavarioid fungus, Scytinopogonsp., was sensitive to thinning and provided an ideal model to investigate how the fungus reproduces in nature and how the population copes with constantly changing environments. Here, we investigated its genetic variations by RAPD and monitored its population dynamics for 7 year. Results of DNA fingerprinting shows that Scytinopogonsp. population consists of numerous small and short-lived genets, which suggested that sexual reproduction and recombination are common and important forScytinopogonsp. population. The Scytinopogon sp. population was declined after thinning and started to increase and recover in the third year after thinning. Genetic differentiation in Scytinopogon sp. was observed after thinning. The recovered subpopulation in thinned plots showed similar RAPD patterns as the subpopulations from nearby plots of other treatments in the same year. That suggested recovery of the basidiomata is established by the basidiospores recruited from the adjacent un-thinned area and 25% thinned plots, while the original subpopulations went locally extinct in heavily thinned plots. To conserve rare fungal species, reduction of disturbance, conservation of habitat and protection of the minimum viable population have to be considered during forest management.