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. 2021 Jan 18;12:2. doi: 10.1186/s43008-020-00050-y

Polypore fungi as a flagship group to indicate changes in biodiversity – a test case from Estonia

Kadri Runnel 1,, Otto Miettinen 2, Asko Lõhmus 1
PMCID: PMC7812660  PMID: 33461627

Abstract

Polyporous fungi, a morphologically delineated group of Agaricomycetes (Basidiomycota), are considered well studied in Europe and used as model group in ecological studies and for conservation. Such broad interest, including widespread sampling and DNA based taxonomic revisions, is rapidly transforming our basic understanding of polypore diversity and natural history. We integrated over 40,000 historical and modern records of polypores in Estonia (hemiboreal Europe), revealing 227 species, and including Polyporus submelanopus and P. ulleungus as novelties for Europe. Taxonomic and conservation problems were distinguished for 13 unresolved subgroups. The estimated species pool exceeds 260 species in Estonia, including at least 20 likely undescribed species (here documented as distinct DNA lineages related to accepted species in, e.g., Ceriporia, Coltricia, Physisporinus, Sidera and Sistotrema). Four broad ecological patterns are described: (1) polypore assemblage organization in natural forests follows major soil and tree-composition gradients; (2) landscape-scale polypore diversity homogenizes due to draining of peatland forests and reduction of nemoral broad-leaved trees (wooded meadows and parks buffer the latter); (3) species having parasitic or brown-rot life-strategies are more substrate-specific; and (4) assemblage differences among woody substrates reveal habitat management priorities. Our update reveals extensive overlap of polypore biota throughout North Europe. We estimate that in Estonia, the biota experienced ca. 3–5% species turnover during the twentieth century, but exotic species remain rare and have not attained key functions in natural ecosystems. We encourage new regional syntheses on long studied fungal groups to obtain landscape-scale understanding of species pools, and for elaborating fungal indicators for biodiversity assessments.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43008-020-00050-y.

Keywords: Assemblage composition, Cryptic species, Functional groups, Species pool, Substrate ecology, Wood-inhabiting fungi

INTRODUCTION

The fact that global biodiversity trends are assessed almost without a fungal perspective (e.g., Butchart et al. 2010, IPBES 2018) calls into question how we should integrate scattered mycological knowledge. Historically, regional checklists of fungal biotas have served such aims (e.g., Senn-Irlet et al. 2007), but the rapid advancement of molecular methods and mass data accumulating from ecological assemblage studies challenge such integration (e.g., Peay 2014, Thomson et al. 2018). Thus, molecular biodiversity research is searching its way out of slow nomenclatural procedures (Hibbett 2016); for example, through a concept of species hypothesis based on DNA barcoding (Kõljalg et al. 2013). This causes accumulation of ‘dark taxa’ that lack names or even physical specimens, which cannot currently be used in conventional taxonomy or conservation (Ryberg & Nilsson 2018). For ecological research programs and environmental management, taxonomic and nomenclatural revisions can be too dynamic or impractical, such as when new species are described without morphologically distinct characters (e.g., Korhonen et al. 2018). As a consequence, ecological studies remain taxonomically heterogeneous, often simplified or of unknown quality (Bortolus 2008, Vink et al. 2012), and may omit taxa of critical conservation importance (e.g., rare undescribed species). Taxonomic descriptions, in turn, include only very basic ecological data and seldom report population- and ecosystem-scale context (Durkin et al. 2020). Conservationists have responded with calls to transform taxonomically accepted species lists into special conservation lists to resolve the administrative problem of taxonomic instability (Mace 2004).

With a broader aim to reintegrate disciplines for monitoring fungal diversity, this study provides a new regional synthesis of polyporous fungi (Agaricomycetes: Basidiomycota; hereafter: polypores) – a conspicuous and well-studied fungal morphogroup. Polypores are distinguished based on poroid hymenophore and mostly lignicolous lifestyle; they inhabit forests on all continents. In recent overviews for Europe and North-America, the number of polypore species was assessed at 400 and 492, accordingly (Zhou et al. 2016, Ryvarden & Melo 2017). Historically, all polypores were included into a common family, Polyporaceae, within the order Aphyllophorales (Fries 1874). This higher classification based on basidiome morphology was refined by several mycologists in the twentieth century, most notably by Singer (1944), Donk (1948, 1964, 1971), and Jülich (1981), but has been largely rejected since the introduction of molecular systematics. The name Polyporales now only refers to one of at least 12 orders within Agaricomycetes that include fungi with polyporoid basidiomes (Hibbett et al. 2014). Polyporous ‘morphogenera’ are increasingly replaced by molecularly supported clades that may be closely related to, or even comprise, non-polyporoid fungi (e.g., Miettinen et al. 2012; Runnel et al. 2019). Molecular data have also revealed extensive undescribed species diversity, including morphologically indistinguishable (cryptic) taxa (e.g., Korhonen et al. 2018). Despite these changes in taxonomy and systematics, polypores continue to be treated as a morphogroup in local and regional studies (e.g., Dai 2012, Zhou et al. 2016, Ryvarden & Melo 2017), and in ecological and conservation research. The reasons for that include acceptance by conservationists and educational values.

Functional significance is a major reason why polypores remain a distinct object of research, especially in the fields of forest ecology and conservation. These fungi constitute important decayers, specifically of the huge woody biomass and its lignin component in forests (Floudas et al. 2012). Their mycelia and basidiomes attached to wood provide forage or microhabitat for diverse assemblages of saproxylic invertebrates (e.g., Birkemoe et al. 2018). A subset of polypore species parasitize live trees, some bearing significant economic and social costs for production forestry and arboriculture through root-, butt- and heart-rots (Schwarze et al. 2013). Ecologically, however, heart-rots are key processes in the formation of tree cavities supporting forest fauna (Remm & Lõhmus 2011), while root- and butt-rots promote tree uprooting and trunk breakage (Honkaniemi et al. 2017) that create diverse microhabitats in forests. Several polypore genera include mostly mycorrhizal species, some of which form basidiomes on dead wood (e.g., among Sistrotrema; Nilsson et al. 2006, Di Marino et al. 2008). Polypores are best studied in North and Central Europe where intensive forest management has been threatening their diversity – this has facilitated their use for assessing forest conservation values and planning the management (Junninen & Komonen 2011, Halme et al. 2017). Linked with these practical issues has been theoretical interest in polypores as model taxa for metapopulation and assemblage models applicable to dynamic habitat patches (e.g., Ovaskainen et al. 2010; Ramiadantsoa et al. 2018).

To explore the perspectives of this flagship group for fungal diversity assessment, we synthesize diverse information from Estonia – a North European country in the hemiboreal (boreo-nemoral) vegetation zone. The first reliable data on Estonian polypore biota were published in the overview by Dietrich (1856, 1859). Local surveys, with an emphasis on (forest) pathology, were initiated by Elmar Lepik (Leppik) in the late 1920s; he also re-checked and summarized the previously collected material from Estonia (e.g., Lepik 1931, 1940). The forest pathology research direction soon focussed on a few economically significant taxa: Heterobasidion species causing butt-rots in conifers (e.g., Karu 1953, Hanso & Hanso 1999) and Phellinus tremulae causing heart-rot in European aspen (Populus tremula) (reviewed by Tamm 2000). A wider research perspective on polypores, accompanied with taxonomic work, was developed in the second half of the twentieth century by Erast Parmasto (Parmasto 2012). Parmasto (2004) published a monograph that quantitatively summarized all the distribution data on the 211 species then known, their main habitat types and host trees. In the 1990s, Parmasto focused on species sensitive to loss of old-growth forests (Parmasto & Parmasto 1997, Parmasto 2001); this research line has been recently re-assessed based on ecological sampling (e.g., Runnel & Lõhmus 2017). Overall, there has been a large increase in polypore data since 2004 from ecological studies, including the development and testing of the survey methods (Runnel et al. 2015, Lõhmus et al. 2018a). Also species’ distribution mapping has continued, notably through monitoring protected species and in protected areas. However, this new knowledge has remained scattered among projects, and the historical data have not been taxonomically updated.

Our synthesis of the diversity and ecology of Estonian polypores serves three broad aims: (1) We characterize the country-scale species pool in a regional perspective, including taxonomic uncertainties. We do not omit unresolved material; instead, we combine and present molecular phylogenies and habitat data of ‘difficult’ specimens to address the primary aim of describing (full) biodiversity. (2) By critically comparing the updated checklist with Parmasto (2004), we distinguish actual long-term changes in the biota from the advancement of knowledge. And (3) we pool all ecological data to quantitatively analyse compositional similarity of Estonian polypore assemblages and niche characteristics of species. At the ecosystem scale, we assess correspondence between polypore assemblages and the habitat type, specifically in relation to soil conditions, tree composition and stand age. This addresses the ‘Cajanderian’ approach to boreal forest typology, which is based on stable site types rather than temporary conditions (e.g., Frey 1973, Lahti & Väisänen 1987). The practical importance of our ecological analyses is to provide a basis for land-cover or substrate-type proxies for conserving polypore diversity (termed ‘coarse-filter’ and ‘mesofilter’ approaches in conservation biology, respectively; Hunter 2005, Cushman et al. 2008).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Study region and ecosystems

Estonia has a total land area 45,339 km2, of which ca. 10% encompasses its western archipelago in the Baltic Sea. The country is situated in the European hemiboreal vegetation zone (Ahti et al. 1968); the natural land cover in the absence of human impact would comprise ca. 85% forest, 8% open wetlands and 5% lakes (Laasimer 1965). The mean air temperature is 17 °C in July and -4 °C in January and the average precipitation is 600–700 mm yr− 1. The topography is mostly of glacial origin. Lowlands (post-glacial flooded plains reaching less than 50 m above current sea level) cover nearly half of the territory, and are the dominant land-forms in West-Estonia. The bases of two erosional and three accumulative uplands are 75–100 m above sea level; four of these uplands are in southern Estonia.

Western and eastern Estonia are separated by a borderline of post-glacial landscape history, climate conditions, and land-use patterns (Ahti et al. 1968; Raukas et al. 2004). The last ice sheet retreated ca. five thousand years earlier in the east (Raukas et al. 2004), which now has a more continental climate with isotherm differences up to 4–5 °C compared with western Estonia (Jõgi & Tarand 1995). This border can be also recognised in the distribution of biodiversity, such as plants (Laasimer 1965) and epiphytic lichens (Jüriado et al. 2003).

Forests, the main ecosystem hosting polypores, currently cover 51% of Estonia but, after a long history of land use, only 2% of this is old natural stands (Raudsaar et al. 2018). Forest conversion to agriculture reached its maximum by the 1930s when ca. one-third of the country had woodland cover (Meikar & Uri 2000). Subsequent afforestation mostly took place due to the abandonment of small agricultural fields and wetland drainage for forestry. Timber harvest intensities were relatively low in the second half of the twentieth century, but rapidly increased after the country regained independence: from 2 to 3 million m3 in 1991–1993 to 10–12 million m3 in 2000–2001 where the volume stabilized, after a temporary decline, since 2011. In the same period, strictly protected forest reserves were expanded from ca. 3 to 13% of forest land (Lõhmus et al. 2004, Raudsaar et al. 2018). The forest management has been based on native tree species and, to a significant extent, on natural regeneration (‘semi-natural forestry’), but following the even-aged (clear-cutting based) silvicultural system and including planting (mostly conifers), thinning, and artificial drainage. Such a mixture of approaches maintained commercial forests in a relatively favourable state for wood-inhabiting species (Lõhmus et al. 2016, Runnel & Lõhmus 2017). However, recent developments to lower rotation age, increase cut-block size, subsidized planting, and (in private forests) ditching threaten forest biodiversity in a longer perspective (e.g., Lõhmus et al. 2018b).

Based upon edaphic and hydrological factors, nine natural and two anthropogenic forest site type groups (drained peatlands; reclaimed areas), comprising at least 27 forest site types, are distinguished for the practical planning and monitoring of Estonian forests (Lõhmus 1984, Raudsaar et al. 2018; Additional file 1). Common natural site type groups are meso-eutrophic (27%; usually Norway spruce Picea abies mixtures with deciduous trees), dry boreal (23% of forest land; most dominated by Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris), eutrophic paludifying (16%; mostly birch Betula spp., often in mixtures with P. sylvestris), and eutrophic boreo-nemoral forests (10%; typically Betula spp., Populus tremula, and grey alder Alnus incana). The dominant anthropogenic forests are drained peatland forests (14%; mostly Betula spp. and P. sylvestris). All the main forest trees are native; 31% of forest area is dominated by P. sylvestris, 30% by Betula spp., 19% by P. abies, 9% by Alnus incana and 6% by P. tremula (Raudsaar et al. 2018). Stands of exotic trees comprise 0.1% of forest land. Over 25% of the forest land has been drained and over 300,000 ha planted, but there are few intensive plantations and stands usually consist of more than one (most often three) tree species.

The main secondary habitats for polypores are semi-natural and urban areas with sparse tree cover. Of these, most traditional wooded meadows were lost during the twentieth century due to the re-organization of agriculture; only < 10,000 ha remain (Sammul et al. 2008). Compared with Western Europe, the Estonian agricultural landscapes still retain significant areas with natural components such as scattered tree rows and single trees (e.g., Kikas et al. 2018). Biodiversity hotspots in the countryside include rural parks that may have dead wood amounts comparable with those in production forests (e.g., Lõhmus & Liira 2013), and riparian zones that contain specific habitats (such as large Salix trees) rarely found in forests. Finally, ca. 2% of Estonian land cover comprises human settlements, often with a significant proportion of green space and trees. A distinct polypore habitat feature of the green space is a diverse mixture of exotic tree species, planted as ornamental species or sometimes as tree collections. Tallinn alone (excluding its botanical garden) hosts 449 exotic species in addition to the 31 native species of trees (Sander et al. 2003).

Estonian polypore data

The Estonian polypore data used includes ca 40,500 basidiome records (Table 1). A ‘record’ refers to collected specimens or archived observations, usually at the level of one distinct substrate unit (e.g., a single fallen trunk). About 10% of records – such as some historical species lists and ecological studies (e.g., Lõhmus 2011) – refer to occurrences at the scale of a forest stand. The specimens we collected are deposited in the fungaria of Tartu University (TU) and the Estonian University of Life Sciences (TAAM); all these records, together with their molecular DNA data and occasional photographs, are archived in the PlutoF database (Abarenkov et al. 2010). At the time of compiling of this study, the molecular data (mostly ITS sequences; in a minority of cases additionally LSU sequences) were available for 3% of all records (Table 1).

Table 1.

Main sources of the Estonian polypore data

Data source or sampling design No. of records (sequences)a Studied ecosystems Publications
I. Historical data until 2004 13,249 (48) All Parmasto 2004
IIa. Systematic sampling in a 4-km2 forest landscape in E Estonia, 2008–2009 3560 (3) All forest land; mostly eutrophic and meso-eutrophic mixed sites Lõhmus 2011
IIb. Standard surveys in 30 2-ha plots and their surroundings in SW Estonia, 2013 2393 (122) Pinus sylvestris dominated drained peatland forests

Runnel et al. 2015

10.15156/BIO/786358

IIc. Standard surveys in 144 2-ha plots, 2005–2016 17,012 (334) Forests and clear-cuts of various types, except of bog and drained wetland types

Runnel & Lõhmus 2017

10.15156/BIO/786363

10.15156/BIO/786357

IId. Fallen retention trees in 48 clear-cuts in mainland, 2010–2011 259 (19) Sites on mineral soils Runnel et al. 2013
IIIa. Casual collections after 2004 3020 (631) All PlutoF database
IIIb. Surveys of 27 species in protected areas, 2015–2016 922 (89) All PlutoF database (partly)
Total 40,415 (1246)

a no. of sequences deposited in the PlutoF database (Abarenkov et al. 2010)

The material comprised three methodologically distinct parts.

  • (I)

    One-third of the material were all records until 2004, which were originally summarized by Parmasto (2004). These are mostly specimens collected during casual surveys by Parmasto and his colleagues in the period 1950–2004, and a critical revision of all older collections. The material has been sampled throughout the country, although some regions (such as eastern and south-western Estonia) have been more intensively covered (Fig. 1A). Parmasto (2004) admits paying more attention to Phellinus (sensu lato) and old-forest fungi; a re-analysis of the whole dataset by Lõhmus (2009) suggested a more general bias (compared with frequencies in nature) toward easily recognizable species with perennial basidiomes. A preference to visit certain biodiversity ‘hotspots’ (such as protected areas, some maritime islands and certain city parks) is also obvious in the location data. For the current study, most original specimens of poorly identifiable rare species (see Lõhmus 2009 and under “Difficult species” below) were morphologically re-checked and, by necessity, sequenced (Table 1).

  • (II)

    Fifty-seven percent of all records were obtained from systematic surveys of polypore assemblages by K.R and A.L in 2005–16. These surveys have been planned and (mostly) published to address questions of forest ecology and conservation (Table 1). Accordingly, this material represents most Estonian forest ecosystems, although it is geographically biased toward mainland Estonia, especially southern, eastern, and north-eastern parts of the country (Fig. 1B). The surveys were performed in the top basidiome production season (September–October), with efforts to record all species either at the habitat patch or substrate scale (to analyse also species absences) along with detailed descriptions of the habitats and substrates. The substrate descriptions have routinely included tree species, condition, diameter, and decay stage (five classes, I–V, according to Renvall 1995). About 15% of the field observations are supported by collections, focusing on basidiomes that could not be reliably identified in the field, represented poorly studied taxa, or atypical substrates (Runnel et al. 2014, Lõhmus et al. 2018a). The collected basidiomes have all been inspected microscopically and ca. 20% of the specimens have been sequenced (Table 1).

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

Distribution of the Estonian polypore datasets included in this study. a Data until 2004: relative no. of species of the total species pool on the 10 × 10 km UTM-grid as reported by Parmasto (2004). b Systematic surveys and casual records in 2005–2018. ‘Landscape’ surveys refer to intensive sampling of the Soomaa area in the west (Runnel et al. 2015 and unpubl.) and Aravu area in the east (Lõhmus 2011). ‘Stand-scale’ surveys are standard-effort surveys in 2-ha plots (Lõhmus et al. 2018a). ‘Retention-cut’ sampling was from selected trunks (Runnel et al. 2013). Casual records are all other records and observations extracted from PlutoF database, 8 November 2018. Graph (A) reproduced with the permission of the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu

Three field protocols were followed in the systematic surveys. The main set of surveys (Table 1: IIb–IIc; 48% of all records) followed a fixed-area-fixed-effort survey protocol, as presented and analysed for bias by Lõhmus et al. (2018a). Each survey was carried out during 4 h in a precisely delineated 2-ha plot by a single observer (the plots listed in Additional file 2). For each species in each plot, substrates of the first ten records were described in detail. Up to 150 such records per plot could be obtained within the 4 h. A less thorough method was used in an East Estonian forest landscape study (Table 1: IIa), where all forest stands in a 4-km2 area were sampled by adjusting survey time with stand area (range 0.1–7 ha; see Lõhmus 2011 for details). For most species, one substrate type in one stand comprised one record, but rare and threatened species were recorded at the scale of individual substrate items. Finally, a small study on retention trees in four Estonian regions recorded all species at the scale of individual tree trunks (Runnel et al. 2013; Table 1: IId).

  • III

    Post-2004 casual records comprise 10% of all records, from two sources (Table 1). The majority are specimen and observation data as extracted on 8 November 2018 from the PlutoF database (Abarenkov et al. 2010). These data originate from casual surveys similar to Parmasto’s (2004) material from professional and, increasingly, amateur mycologists all over Estonia (Fig. 1b). All the observations obtained from the database were quality-scanned, and doubtful identifications were discarded. We additionally included 922 observations of 27 easily identifiable protected, rare or old-forest indicator species (full list is available upon request) during publicly funded fungal surveys by Indrek Sell in two protected areas in mainland Estonia: the Soomaa National Park in 2015 and the Muraka Nature Reserve in 2016.

Data processing

Updating species list and documenting taxonomic uncertainties

For ecological analyses, the set of casual records included in this paper are as of 8 November 2018. However, Table 2 has been updated based on casual collection data (Table 1: IIIa) as of 20 July 2019, with the records of Amylocystis lapponica updated according to Runnel et al. (2020), and Inonotus ulmicola and Spongipellis spumea including the observations by Pau (2018). Phellinus igniarius sensu stricto is defined as all species records from Salix spp.

Table 2.

Estonian polypore species, their voucher specimens in fungaria, no. of records by sources (I: historical data up to 2004; II: systematic sampling; III: casual collections), habitats, and national Red-List status (Category and Criteria). Habitat data denote presence by: forest successional stage (E, early-successional; M, mid-successional; L, late-successional forests), host tree species (S, Picea abies; P, Pinus sylvestris; A, Populus tremula; B, Betula spp.; D, other deciduous species, O, ornamental conifers), woody substrate (C, coarse downed deadwood; F, fine downed or standing deadwood; Sn, snags and stumps; L, live trees), and decay stage (E, early; M, medium; L, late). For species with ≥25 records from systematic sampling, the habitat summary is given as % of species records in the systematic sample

Species1 Voucher No. of records Succ. stage Tree species Subst. type Decay stage Cat. Crit.
I II III
p Abortiporus biennis (Bull.) Singer TU104564 2 0 4 D L VU D1
m Albatrellus citrinus Ryman TU106597 16 16 10 ML G LC
m Albatrellus confluens (Alb. & Schwein.) Kotl. & Pouzar TU106802 24 1 1 L G DD
m Albatrellus ovinus (Schaeff.) Kotl. & Pouzar TU118663 69 51 11 51M49L G LC
m Albatrellus subrubescens (Murrill) Pouzar TU106803 14 0 2 G DD
Amylocystis lapponica (Romell) Bondartsev & Singer ex Singer TAAM189465 1 1 59 L S C EML CR D1
Anomoloma albolutescens (Romell) Niemelä & K.H. Larss. TAAM174473 1 0 0 EN D1
Anomoloma myceliosum (Peck) Niemelä & K.H. Larss. TU101934 5 26 1 65M35L 27S73P 27C73F 42E38M19L VU D1
Anomoporia bombycina (Fr.) Pouzar TU111116 6 0 3 SP C NT D1
Antrodia cretacea K. Runnel, V. Spirin & A. Lõhmus TU121005 6 6 7 EL S CSn EML EN B2ab(ii,iii); C2a(i)
Antrodia heteromorpha (Fr.) Donk TAAM001039 4 0 0 RE
Antrodia leucaena Y.C. Dai & Niemelä TU129577 1 7 7 EML A CF EM VU C1
Antrodia macra (Sommerf.) Niemelä TU129573 9 4 3 EM DA F EM DD
Antrodia mellita Niemelä & Penttillä TU114649 7 0 7 A C EN D1
Antrodia piceata K. Runnel, V. Spirin & J. Vlasák TU129574 4 13 19 L S C EML EN B1ab(iv,v)+2ab(iv,v); C2a(i)
Antrodia pulvinascens (Pilát) Niemelä TU117272 12 2 42 E A CFSn M VU D1
Antrodia ramentacea (Berk. & Broome) Donk TU122933 3 3 3 M P F EM DD
Antrodia serialis (Fr.) Donk TU120464 >100 >100 25 24E33M44L 95S5P1D 72C11Sn17F 32E59M9L LC
Antrodia sinuosa (Fr.) P. Karst. TU117300 >100 >100 29 17E49M34L 38S61P1B0A 72C2Sn26F 22E57M21L LC
Antrodia xantha (Fr.) Ryvarden TU117274 >100 >100 17 13E37M50L 10S89P1D 73C6Sn21F 27E56M18L LC
Antrodiella citrinella Niemelä & Ryvarden TU117326 2 30 13 10E17M73L 83S3P7B7A 90C3Sn7F 10E30M60L LC
Antrodiella faginea Vampola & Pouzar TU129240 3 20 4 EML PDBA CSnF EML LC
Antrodiella niemelaei Vampola & Vlasák TU130078 2 1 3 E D F L VU D1
Antrodiella pallescens (Pilát) Niemelä & Miettinen TU117329 74 >100 9 12E72M16L 11D86B3A 54C15Sn31F 7E53M40L LC
Antrodiella parasitica Vampola TAAM164505 1 0 0 EN D1
Antrodiella romellii (Donk) Niemelä TU129193 19 47 6 20E73M7L 60D33B7A 9C2Sn88F 48E40M12L LC
Antrodiella serpula (P. Karst.) Spirin & Niemelä TU115534 72 78 19 5E65M29L 87D10B3A 23C37Sn40F 23E54M23L LC
Aporpium canescens (P. Karst.) Bondartsev & Singer ex Singer TU129596 23 39 13 5E38M57L 3S5D41B51A 73C19Sn8F 24E38M38L LC
Aporpium macroporum T. Niemelä, V. Spirin & O. Miettinen TU129583 2 6 17 EML A CSn EM VU C1
p? Aurantiporus croceus (Pers.) Murrill TU111103 2 0 6 D L CR D1
p? Aurantiporus fissilis (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) H. Jahn ex Ryvarden TU117130 14 7 2 ML DA CF EML NT D1
Aurantiporus priscus Niemelä, Miettinen & Manninen TAAM199826 3 0 0 CR C2a(i); D1
Bjerkandera adusta (Willd.) P. Karst. TU118559 >100 >100 35 34E42M24L 4S34D35B35A 44C32Sn22F1L 52E40M8L LC
Bjerkandera fumosa (Pers.) P. Karst. TAAM183439 40 4 4 M DB CSnF EM LC
m Boletopsis grisea (Peck) Bondartsev & Singer TU117299 15 0 13 G VU D1
m Boletopsis leucomelaena (Pers.) Fayod TU120100 4 1 3 L G EN C2a(i)
Botryodontia millavensis (Bourdot & Galzin) Duhem & H. Michel TAAM201266 18 0 22 O FL VU D1
Byssoporia terrestris (DC.) M.J. Larsen & Zak TU130449 1 7 0 EML SPA CF EML VU D1
Ceriporia aurantiocarnescens (Henn.) M. Pieri & B. Rivoire TU122039 0 2 3 M DA C M DD
Ceriporia bresadolae (Bourdot & Galzin) Donk TU122499 3 0 1 P M EN D1
Ceriporia excelsa (S. Lundell) Parmasto TU117255 18 32 8 53E31M16L 13D66B22A 75C3Sn22F 3E65M32L LC
Ceriporia purpurea (Fr.) Donk TU115545 20 11 9 EML DBA CSnF EML LC
Ceriporia reticulata (Hoffm.) Domanski TU121840 21 51 5 40E36M24L 2P48D30B20A 24C2Sn74F 22E58M20L LC
Ceriporia tarda (Berk.) Ginns TAAM196177 1 0 8 S CR D1
Ceriporia torpida Spirin & Miettinen 0 0 1 A DD
Ceriporia viridans (Berk. & Broome) Donk TU129216 34 41 9 48E28M25L 3P18D53B28A 45C8Sn48F 3E70M27L LC
Ceriporiopsis aneirina (Sommerf.) Domanski TU117256 37 70 28 36E29M36L 100A 69C1Sn30F 61E37M2L LC
Ceriporiopsis pseudogilvescens (Pilát) Niemelä & Kinnunen TU129597 2 14 11 ML DA CSnF EML LC
Ceriporiopsis resinascens (Romell) Domanski TU115564 19 2 1 EL DA CF M LC
Cerrena unicolor (Bull.) Murrill TU101682 >100 >100 17 55E32M13L 4D92B4A 28C41Sn30F 28E51M21L LC
Cinereomyces lindbladii (Berk.) Jülich TU117291 28 >100 22 53E25M22L 44S32P6D18B 63C1Sn36F 7E52M41L LC
Climacocystis borealis (Fr.) Kotl. & Pouzar TU118900 >100 42 29 26E17M57L 100S 31C69Sn 54E36M10L LC
m Coltricia cinnamomea (Jacq.) Murrill TU106861 0 0 6 G VU D1
m Coltricia confluens P.-J. Keizer TAAM181460 0 0 2 G NE
m Coltricia perennis (L.) Murrill TU120468 >100 13 9 EML G LC
Daedalea quercina (L.) Pers. TU106561 >100 0 18 D CL LC
Daedaleopsis confragosa (Bolton) J. Schröt. TU118931 87 49 42 14E71M14L 90D10B 16C39Sn43F2L 47E46M7L LC
Datronia mollis (Sommerf.) Donk TU109290 >100 >100 21 21E49M29L 26D34B40A 39C3Sn58F 51E42M7L LC
Dichomitus campestris (Quel.) Domanski & Orlicz TU117217 12 8 26 M D SnF EM NT D1
Dichomitus squalens (P. Karst.) D.A. Reid TU121329 6 4 0 EML SP CF EM EN C2a(i)
Diplomitoporus crustulinus (Bres.) Domanski TAAM134247 1 0 0 RE
Diplomitoporus flavescens (Bres.) Domanski TU101542 52 >100 48 8E90M3L 1S99P 11C66Sn23F 83E17M LC
Fiboporia gossypium (Speg.) Parmasto TU117247 8 8 14 EML SP CF EML VU D1
Fibroporia norrlandica (Berglund & Ryvarden) Niemelä TU129622 0 12 0 EM SPB CF EM LC
Fibroporia vaillantii Parmasto TAAM184863 12 1 1 E PO F L VU D1
p Fistulina hepatica (Schaeff.) With. TU118753 86 0 11 D L NT D1
Fomes fomentarius (L.) Fr. TU117322 >100 >100 55 17E58M25L 5D93B2A 45C37Sn18F 38E48M14L LC
Fomitopsis pinicola (Sw.) P. Karst. TU117240 >100 >100 >100 16E55M28L 49S15P8D24B4A 52C37Sn10F 41E50M9L LC
Fomitopsis rosea (Alb. & Schwein.) P. Karst. TU118898 60 >100 >100 1E16M84L 99S1P 93C1Sn6F 28E63M7L NT A3(c)
Funalia trogii (Berk.) Bondartsev & Singer TAAM202749 20 73 8 83E10M6L 2D4B93A 50C317F2L 41E57M2L NT A3(c)
Ganoderma applanatum (Pers.) Pat. TU129233 >100 >100 54 37E30M34L 1S20D41B37A 51C46Sn3F1L 12E32M54L LC
Ganoderma carnosum Pat. TAAM126866 1 0 0 NA
Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst. TU129603 40 25 24 44E52M4L 20S20D56B4A 28C68Sn4F 9M91L LC
Gelatoporia subvermispora (Pilát) Niemelä TU122080 1 6 6 EML SDBA CF ML NT D1
Gloeophyllum abietinum (Bull.) P. Karst. TU111350 48 12 10 EML S CF EM NT C1
Gloeophyllum odoratum (Wulfen) Imazeki TU118351 >100 >100 31 74E13M14L 93S4P1D 16C84Sn 5E52M43L LC
Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wulfen) P. Karst. TU106410 >100 >100 25 76E16M8L 83S9P1B7A 38C14Sn48F 48E46M5L LC
Gloeophyllum trabeum (Pers.) Murrill TU120451 13 10 4 E DBA CSnF EM LC
Gloeoporus dichrous (Fr.) Bres. TU114774 42 51 4 16E70M14L 2S2D92B4A 43C20Sn37F 27E49M24L LC
Gloeoporus pannocinctus (Romell) J. Erikss. TU117298 46 51 12 4E53M43L 2S35D55B8A 84C10Sn4F2L 30E38M32L LC
p Grifola frondosa (Dicks.) Gray TU120007 8 0 10 DO L CR D1
Hapalopilus aurantiacus (Rostk.) Bondartsev TU129768 5 3 3 E SP CSn EM EN D1
Hapalopilus ochraceolateritius (Bondartsev) Bondartsev & Singer TU121752 4 2 3 E SP CSn M EN D1
Hapalopilus rutilans (Pers.) Murrill TU118885 78 51 23 6E86M8L 2S18D80B 14C14Sn73F 22E62M16L LC
Haploporus tuberculosus (Fr.) Niemelä & Y.C. Dai TAAM201265 1 0 1 D CR D1
p Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref. TAAM201141 20 2 19 EM PB CSn EL LC
p Heterobasidion parviporum Niemelä & Korhonen TU118616 >100 >100 27 12E34M55L 98S2P1B 77C20Sn3F1L 34E50M16L LC
Hyphodontia flavipora (Berk. & M.A. Curtis ex Cooke) Sheng H. Wu TU129751 2 7 2 ML DBA CF EM NT D1
Hyphodontia latitans (Bourdot & Galzin) E. Langer TU129697 1 7 4 ML DBA CF EML EN B1ab(iv,v)+2ab(iv,v); C2a(i); D1
Hyphodontia radula (Schrader) E. Langer & Vesterholt TU129685 8 >100 6 7E68M25L 1S1P40D55B3A 34C4Sn62F1L 25E57M18L LC
Hyphodontia paradoxa (Fr.) Langer & Vesterh. TU111288 33 26 4 15E50M35L 54D38B8A 4C12Sn85F 15E66M19L LC
Inonotopsis subiculosa (Peck) Parmasto TAAM058545 1 0 0 RE
p Inonotus dryadeus (Pers.) Murrill 1 0 0 RE
p Inonotus dryophilus (Berk.) Murrill TAAM196870 2 0 2 D L CR D1
p Inonotus obliquus (Ach. ex Pers.) Pilát TU120209 >100 >100 24 2E71M27L 6D93B1A 6C19Sn2F73L 75E20M6L LC
Inonotus radiatus (Sowerby) P. Karst. TU118763 >100 >100 35 14E62M24L 84D16B1A 27C52Sn18F2L 51E42M7L LC
Inonotus rheades (Pers.) P. Karst. TAAM171920 39 1 12 M A F E NT D1, C1
p Inonotus ulmicola Corfixen TAAM178664 5 0 45 D L NT D1
Irpex lacteus (Fr.) Fr. TU121351 14 11 4 E DB F EML LC
Ischnoderma benzoinum (Wahlenb.) P. Karst. TU120112 >100 >100 36 11E35M54L 78S22P 72C21Sn7F 32E50M18L LC
Junghuhnia autumnale Spirin, Zmitr. & Malysheva TU129604 0 6 1 ML DA CF E VU D1
Junghuhnia collabens (Fr.) Ryvarden TU117284 10 40 43 8M93L 98S3P 95C3Sn3F 8E38M55L NT C1
Junghuhnia fimbriatella (Peck) Ryvarden TU117288 2 1 8 L SDA C L EN D1
Junghuhnia lacera (P. Karst.) Niemelä & Kinnunen TU117302 1 6 2 EML DBA CF EML DD
Junghuhnia luteoalba (P. Karst.) Ryvarden TU122833 14 >100 9 26E67M7L 6S94P 59C5Sn36F 16E70M14L LC
Junghuhnia nitida (Pers.: Fr.) Ryvarden TU117246 81 >100 14 26E58M17L 1S42D32B26A 13C2Sn85F 22E61M17L LC
p Junghuhnia pseudozilingiana (Parmasto) Ryvarden TU111359 27 24 >100 ML BA CSnFL EM VU C1
p Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) Murrill TU118392 >100 5 40 L DA CF EM LC
Lenzites betulina (L.: Fr.) Fr. TU120080 99 >100 19 59E36M6L 1S6D81B12A 23C15Sn61F 46E47M7L LC
Leptoporus erubescens (Fr.) Bourdot & Galzin TU117236 6 9 19 EML 100P CSn EM NE
Leptoporus mollis (Pers.) Quél. TU129905 47 35 56 9E45M46L 100S 66C12Sn21F1L 56E44M LC
Lindtneria trachyspora (Bourdot & Galzin) Pilát 5 1 0 L B C L EN D1
Meruliopsis taxicola (Pers.) Bondartsev TU120635 42 26 14 12E69M19L 4S96P 65C15Sn19F 85E15M LC
Obba rivulosa (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Miettinen & Rajchenb. TU121738 0 1 0 M S F M EN D1
p Onnia leporina (Fr.) H. Jahn TU129416 34 4 6 L S CSn E EN A2(a); 4(a,b); C1
p Onnia tomentosa (Fr.: Fr.) P. Karst. TU106685 47 5 26 EML SA F M LC
Oxyporus corticola (Fr.) Ryvarden TU117341 >100 88 40 17E23M60L 8S5D6B81A 78C9Sn12F1L 48E45M7L LC
Oxyporus latemarginatus (E.J. Durand & Mont.) Donk TU121210 2 2 1 E B Sn ML EN D1
Oxyporus obducens (Pers.) Donk TAAM202744 1 0 1 D F DD
p Oxyporus populinus (Schumach.) Donk TU118657 >100 64 27 2E47M52L 59D34B6A 14C25Sn3F58L 56E33M11L LC
Oxyporus ravidus (Fr.) Bondartsev & Singer Niemelä 7215 2 0 0 EN D1
p Perenniporia medulla-panis (Jacq.) Donk TAAM189567 9 0 3 D C EN D1
Perenniporia narymica (Pilát) Pouzar TU128008 0 1 0 B C L NA
Perenniporia subacida (Peck) Donk TU117317 28 20 27 EML SPDBA CSnF EML NT D1
Perenniporia tenuis (Schwein.) Ryvarden TAAM189637 1 0 0 CR CR B1a,b(i,v)+2a,b (i,v); C2a(i); D1
p Phaeolus schweinitzii (Fr.) Pat. TU118304 45 3 14 L SP CSnE M NT D1
p Phellinus alni (Bondartsev) Parmasto TAAM191398 >100 >100 51 4E52M44L 100D 18C19Sn3F60L 71E27M2L LC
p Phellinus chrysoloma (Fr.) Donk TU118916 >100 71 75 30M70L 100S 28C27Sn3F42L 60E38M3L LC
p Phellinus conchatus (Pers.) Quél. TU120539 >100 50 23 14E64M22L 100D 32C30Sn14F24L 46E46M8L LC
Phellinus ferrugineofuscus (P. Karst.) Bourdot TU117283 35 28 >100 29M71L 100S 93C7F 23E58M19L NT C1
Phellinus ferruginosus (Schrad.) Pat. TU111127 18 2 29 M D CSnF E LC
Phellinus hippophaeicola H. Jahn TU128014 0 0 1 NE
p Phellinus igniarius (L.) Quél. TAAM191408 >100 21 27 EML D CSnFL EM LC
Phellinus laevigatus (Fr.) Bourdot & Galzin TU117262 >100 >100 14 6E38M56L 100B 60C8Sn32F1L 32E57M11L LC
p Phellinus lundellii Niemelä TU117270 22 17 5 EML DB CSnF EML LC
p Phellinus nigricans (Fr.) P. Karst. TU122789 >100 >100 17 10E65M25L 100B 20C41Sn9F31L 51E40M9L LC
Phellinus nigrolimitatus (Romell) Bourdot & Galzin TU117268 45 49 45 4E12M84L 100S 98C2F 6E81M13L LC
p Phellinus pini (Brot.) A. Ames TU109982 >100 >100 >100 32M68L 100P 2C13Sn85L 86E14M LC
p Phellinus populicola Niemelä TU111223 >100 34 84 9E59M32L 100A 9C21Sn71L 70E30M LC
p Phellinus punctatus (P. Karst.) Pilát TU120544 >100 93 27 11E68M22L 96D3B1A 14C44Sn30F12L 49E42M9L LC
p Phellinus robustus (P. Karst.) Bourdot & Galzin TU118766 54 0 7 D L LC
p Phellinus tremulae (Bondartsev) Bondartsev & P.N. Borisov TAAM191400 >100 >100 44 12E56M32L 100A 12C3Sn2F83L 73E26M2L NT A2
p Phellinus tuberculosus (Baumg.) Niemelä TAAM196106 60 0 2 O L LC
Phellinus viticola (Schwein.) Donk 1 0 0 RE
p Phylloporia ribis (Schumach.) Ryvarden TAAM196444 29 0 21 O L LC
Physisporinus sanguinolentus (Alb. & Schwein.) Pilát TU117267 9 >100 9 46E24M30L 36S15P26D18B5A 45C20Sn35F 20E47M33L LC
Physisporinus vitreus (Pers.) P. Karst. TU122877 51 99 5 42E36M22L 7S1P69D19B3A 37C6Sn57F 25E59M16L VU D1
Physisporinus undatus (Pers.) Donk TU117254 3 1 2 EML DS C L NE
Piptoporus betulinus (Bull.) P. Karst. TU118904 >100 >100 56 3E78M19L 100B 17C23Sn59F1L 55E42M3L LC
Polyporus badius (Pers.) Schwein. TU120199 19 51 46 6E33M61L 2S26D10B62A 76C10Sn14F 15E70M15L NT A2
Polyporus brumalis (Pers.) Fr. TU129816 79 79 10 81E16M3L 30D68B1A 11C9Sn80F 15E52M33L LC
Polyporus ciliatus Fr. TU118306 81 91 8 97E2M1L 18D81B1A 7C19Sn74F1L 10E56M34L LC
Polyporus leptocephalus (Jacq.) Fr. TU106392 >100 40 31 23E45M33L 9D41B50A 44C3Sn53F 55E39M6L LC
Polyporus melanopus (Pers.) Fr. TU118072 3 0 16 DP GC VU D1
p Polyporus pseudobetulinus (Murashk. ex Pilát) Thorn, Kotir. & Niemelä 1 0 0 RE
Polyporus (Cerioporus) rangiferinus (Bolton) Zmitr., Volobuev, I. Parmasto & Bondartseva TU117400 2 1 7 L D GC DD
p Polyporus squamosus (Huds.) Fr. TAAM205584 >100 0 27 L D CL M LC
Polyporus submelanopus H.J. Xue & L.W. Zhou TAAM185810 1 0 0 NA
Polyporus tubaeformis (P. Karst.) Ryvarden & Gilb. TU114240 8 0 0 VU D1
Polyporus ulleungus H. Lee, N.K. Kim & Y.W. Lim TU129852 0 1 0 M B F M NE
p? Polyporus umbellatus (Pers.) Fr. TU113528 7 0 12 G EN D1
Porotheleum fimbriatum (Pers.) Fr. TU129702 95 >100 9 29E31M39L 18S3P25D37B17A 26C5Sn69F 21E55M24L LC
Porpomyces mucidus (Pers.) Jülich TU117331 45 24 9 EML SPDBA CSnF EML LC
Postia auricoma Spirin & Niemelä TU129235 0 3 1 ML P C EL VU D1
Postia balsamea (Peck) Jülich TU128005 1 0 1 O L DD
Postia caesia sl >100 >100 31 11E51M38L 60S7P14D6B13A 43C4Sn53F 40E56M4L LC
- Postia alni Niemelä & Vampola TU130387
- Postia caesia (Schrad.) P. Karst. TU127228
- Postia cyanescens Miettinen TU130591
- Postia populi Miettinen OM21796
- Postia simulans (P. Karst.) Spirin & B. Rivoire TU129873
Postia ceriflua (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Jülich TU122511 1 2 1 L DSP CF EM EN D1
Postia floriformis (Quél.) Jülich TU120617 21 39 5 18E28M54L 95S5P 72C15Sn13F 46E41M13L LC
Postia fragilis (Fr.) Jülich TU117295 73 >100 14 2E55M43L 59S41P 62C9Sn29F 31E61M8L LC
Postia guttulata (Peck) Jülich TU111192 42 37 12 3E84M14L 49S51P 65C16Sn14F5L 37E26M37L LC
Postia hibernica (Berk. & Broome) Jülich TU122822 14 5 0 M SP CF EM VU D1
Postia leucomallella (Murrill) Jülich TU129611 >100 >100 8 4E70M26L 12S87P 51Cn48F 26E65M9L LC
Postia ptychogaster (F. Ludw.) Vesterh. TU118955 8 37 16 27E24M49L 75S22P3A 76C8Sn16F 30E62M8L LC
Postia rennyi (Berk. & Broome) Rajchenb. TU121994 12 9 0 EML SP CSnF M LC
Postia romellii M. Pieri & B. Rivoire TU129819 29 20 0 EML SP CSnF EML DD
Postia stiptica (Pers.) Jülich TU122881 48 83 6 16E47M37L 86S7P1D4B2A 48C26Sn24F2L 56E39M5L LC
Postia tephroleuca (Fr.) Jülich TU129589 72 >100 9 11E52M37L 67S15P1D12B5A 63C12Sn24F 24E68M8L LC
Postia undosa (Peck) Jülich TU115562 14 61 4 8E61M31L 65S17P2D2B15A 73C3Sn23F 25E65M10L LC
Pycnoporellus alboluteus (Ellis & Everh.) Kotl. & Pouzar TAAM197000 0 0 11 S C CR D1
Pycnoporellus fulgens (Fr.) Donk TU120127 >100 >100 >100 7E37M56L 85S3P1D10B2A 85C10Sn5F 24E56M18L LC
Pycnoporus cinnabarinus (Jacq.: Fr.) P. Karst. TU118339 73 >100 19 96E4M 23D77B 20C2Sn78F 22E63M15L LC
Rhodonia placenta (Fr.) Niemelä, K.H. Larss. & Schigel TU117293 17 31 42 19M81L 55S39P3D3A 90C3Sn6F 13E55M32L LC
Rigidoporus crocatus (Pat.) Ryvarden TU117325 30 >100 34 4E58M39L 12S2P51D32B3A 93C7F 10E67M23L LC
Sarcoporia polyspora P. Karst. TU117066 4 5 1 ML SP C EML EN D1
Sidera lenis (P. Karst.) Miettinen TU101553 31 6 4 ML SP CSnF ML VU D1
Sidera vulgaris (Fr.) Miettinen TU122882 69 79 20 3E51M47L 48S39P5D3B5A 62C38F 6E48M46L LC
m* Sistotrema alboluteum (Bourdot & Galzin) Bondartsev & Singer TU121700 9 12 1 ML SP CF EML NT D1
m* Sistotrema confluens Pers. TU118544 31 0 20 G LC
m* Sistotrema dennisii Malençon TAAM6601 1 0 0 DD
m* Sistotrema muscicola (Pers.) S. Lundell TAAM180781 2 6 1 ML PD CF ML NT D1
Skeletocutis amorpha (Fr.) Kotl. & Pouzar TU120616 >100 >100 16 18E64M18L 32S68P 60C24Sn16F 65E35M LC
Skeletocutis biguttulata (Romell) Niemelä TU122884 60 >100 3 12E73M15L 7S89P2D2B1A 27C3Sn70F 26E55M19L LC
Skeletocutis brevispora Niemelä TU117344 1 3 5 L S C EML CR C2a(i)
Skeletocutis carneogrisea A. David TU122445 65 >100 7 7E65M28L 69S31P 64C5Sn31F 23E74M3L LC
Skeletocutis cummata A. Korhonen & Miettinen TU128007 4 1 0 M S SnF M EN D1
Skeletocutis delicata Niemelä & Miettinen TU129588 0 2 2 ML SP C ML NE
Skeletocutis exilis Miettinen & Niemelä TU129591 0 1 0 L S C L NE
Skeletocutis jelicii Tortic & A. David TU111188 0 1 3 M S C L EN D1
Skeletocutis kuehneri A. David TU129264 6 18 9 ML SP CF EML LC
Skeletocutis nivea sl >100 >100 19 15E54M32L 75D19B5A 11C1Sn87F1L 34E52M14L LC
- Skeletocutis futilis Miettinen & A. Korhonen TU129978
- Skeletocutis nemoralis A. Korhonen & Miettinen TU130512
- Skeletocutis semipileata (Peck) Miettinen & A. Korhonen TU122298
Skeletocutis odora (Peck ex Sacc.) Ginns TU117273 26 14 59 EML SPA CSn EML VU A3c; C1
Skeletocutis papyracea A. David TU122787 17 >100 6 2E79M19L 14S86P 54C1Sn45F 26E67M7L LC
Skeletocutis stellae (Pilát) Jean Keller TU129605 43 16 33 EML SP CF ML NT D1
p Spongipellis spumea (Sowerby) Pat. TAAM189911 11 0 11 D L VU D1
Steccherinum oreophilum Lindsey & Gilb. TAAM158353 1 2 3 M BA F M DD
Trametes gibbosa (Pers.) Fr. TU117579 1 0 13 D VU D1
Trametes hirsuta (Wulfen) Pilát TU120101 >100 >100 24 78E15M8L 1S37D48B13A 20C9Sn71F 49E44M7L LC
Trametes ochracea (Pers.) Gilb. & Ryvarden TU120126 >100 >100 17 44E37M19L 1S8D50B42A 27C16Sn56F1L 56E40M4L LC
Trametes pubescens (Schumach.) Pilát TU101930 58 69 3 55E38M7L 13D75B12A 36C9Sn53F2L 28E62M10L LC
p? Trametes suaveolens (L.) Fr. TU128010 13 0 16 D SnL CR CR C2ai; D1
Trametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd TU118802 >100 >100 17 82E16M2L 2S43D53B2A 19C44Sn37F 28E47M25L LC
Trametopsis cervina (Schwein.) Tomsovský TU109320 0 0 2 D NE
Trechispora candidissima (Schwein.) Bondartsev & Singer TU123416 4 8 1 EML SPDB CSnF EML LC
Trechispora hymenocystis (Berk. & Broome) K.H. Larss. TU129229 56 82 3 22E52M26L 25S26P10D39B 36C10Sn53F 5E38M57L LC
Trechispora mollusca (Pers.) Liberta TU129726 45 83 3 30E30M40L 44S9P9D36B3A 33C5Sn62F 11E51M38L LC
Trichaptum abietinum (Pers. ex J.F. Gmel.) Ryvarden TU118911 >100 >100 30 15E57M28L 70S30P 50C19Sn32F 66E33M1L LC
Trichaptum biforme (Fr.) Ryvarden TU120047 24 58 7 3E79M17L 3D97B 43C2Sn48F7L 30E55M15L LC
Trichaptum fuscoviolaceum (Ehrenb.) Ryvarden TU118960 42 >100 12 26E69M5L 2S98P 31C21Sn48F 68E32M LC
Tyromyces chioneus (Fr.) P. Karst. TU120543 83 >100 4 65E31M4L 1P10D81B8A 28C16Sn55F 14E58M28L LC
Tyromyces fumidiceps G.F. Atk. TAAM189638 4 0 0 EN D1
Xanthoporus syringae (Parmasto) Audet TAAM159469 4 0 0 VU C2a(i); D1

1 life history strategy: p parasite; m mycorrhizal; m*partly mycorrhizal; ? uncertain

We use conservative nomenclature for genera whose classification is still in flux, such as Antrodia, Phellinus, Inonotus, and Polyporus.

To update the species list, special attention was paid to specimens that represented taxa with recently updated taxonomy (notably the species concept) and potentially unresolved groups. Such specimens were checked microscopically, and multiple dried basiodiomes sequenced for rDNA ITS (in the case of high variability also D1–D2 domains of the more stable LSU region) for comparisons with references in public databases and our personal database. For obtaining the ITS sequences, we used primers ITS1F (Gardes & Bruns 1993) or ITS0F-T (Tedersoo et al. 2008) and ITS4 (White et al. 1990); for the D1–D2 domains of the LSU region we used primers CTB6 (Garbelotto et al. 1997) and LR7 (Vilgalys & Hester 1990) or LBW (Tedersoo et al. 2008). DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sequencing of the target loci followed protocols described by Tamm and Põldmaa (2013). ITS and LSU sequences were also produced for 82 species that had no previously sequenced voucher specimens from Estonia.

In eight difficult/unresolved species groups, we explicitly illustrate the variation in their Estonian ITS (in some cases also LSU) sequence material and the accompanying ecological data on substrate and habitat type. The sequences were edited and assembled using Sequencher 5.1 (Gene Codes, Michigan, USA), first aligned automatically using Mafft 7 online version (Katoh et al. 2017) and then edited manually in AliView (Larsson 2014). The Estonian dataset of each taxon group was complemented with the most similar basidiome based sequences (> 95% similarity) available at GenBank and UNITE database (Nilsson et al. 2018). In UNITE, a species hypothesis at 1.5% threshold level was calculated for a voucher specimen of each distinct lineage (Kõljalg et al. 2013). Outgroups were chosen based on the latest molecular taxonomic works on the target taxa, except in Byssoporia, Coltricia cinnamomea, Physisporinus and Sidera that had difficult to align ITS/LSU regions. To avoid rooting with distant taxa and producing arbitrary branching orders, their phylogenetic trees were centrally rooted. We organized the sequences as Maximum Likelihood (ML) phylogenies based on IQ-TREE (version 1.2.2; Nguyen et al. 2015), 1000 bootstrap replicates and the ‘best-fitted model’. Collection data for the examined Estonian specimens in difficult/unresolved species groups and the GenBank or UNITE accession numbers of their ITS and LSU sequences are presented in Additional file 3, data for public reference sequences from elsewhere are in Additional file 4. The final alignments for all data sets were stored in TreeBASE (http://www.treebase.org; accession number 25415).

Analysing polypore assemblages along habitat gradients

Primary data for assessing correspondence between polypore assemblages and habitat gradients were the systematic surveys in stands > 20 years old (datasets IIa-IIc in Table 1). We categorized the stands into ‘habitat types’ according to: (1) site-type group – proxy of soil nutrient and humidity combinations (Lõhmus 1984, Additional file 1); (2) tree canopy composition class – Picea abies forests and Picea-deciduous mixedwood; Pinus sylvestris forests and Pinus-deciduous mixedwood; deciduous forests (≥80% deciduous species); and (3) old stands (dominant tree layer > 100 years) vs. other stands. We then compiled species lists for each habitat type by pooling species data from all stands belonging to this type. Such approach allowed us to address relative importance of permanent (soil) and temporary variation (tree composition and successional stage) for polypore assemblages. We did not analyse the distinct post clear-cut assemblages that have been addressed in original studies (Lõhmus 2011, Runnel & Lõhmus 2017); the species found in such early-successional stands can be distinguished in Table 2.

Additionally, we compiled species lists for bog and heath forests, parks and wooded meadows, which have not been systematically surveyed. We used casual records extracted from PlutoF database and Parmasto (2004), relying on original habitat annotations (these habitat types are easily distinguishable); we nevertheless double-checked all such records that had co-ordinates against the Estonian soil map. Tree composition and age were not specified for these additional data, but heath and bog forests in Estonia are typically Pinus sylvestris stands, while most parks and wooded meadows characteristically have old deciduous trees.

Overlaps of species lists among site-type groups were visualized with Euler proportional circle diagrams (eulerr package; Larsson 2018). For assemblage analyses along habitat gradients, we first omitted all species that had been recorded from a single habitat type (a combination of 1–3 above). This retained data on 157 polypore species with 23,362 original records and 54 habitat types. We then recoded species’ record numbers for a three-class scale (0, no records; 1, one record; 2, > 1 records) as a compromise between observation bias in raw record numbers (resulting from varying habitat coverage and species detectability) and the presence-absence scale’s emphasis on rare species.

To illustrate how assemblage composition varies among habitat types, we used non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS; vegan package in R, Oksanen et al. 2016). The environmental matrix comprised three categorical variables: site-type group (ten groups; Additional file 1), soil fertility (two classes: fertile vs poor/thin), and tree species composition (three classes, see above). The analyses were run using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index with random starting configurations; searching for two-dimensional solutions, and rotating the final solution to depict the largest variance of site scores on the first axis. Assemblage differences were tested separately for each environmental variable using Multi-Response Permutation Procedures (MRPP) with Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index, and Bonferroni corrected p-values.

Substrate analyses

We followed the concept of functional traits as presented by Dawson et al. (2019) and categorized species mostly according to Niemelä (2016). We first divided the species between strictly or facultatively ectomycorrhizal and wood-inhabiting life-strategy groups. The wood-inhabiting group was further divided by: (a) typical colonization time – parasites of live trees (‘necrotrophs’ sensu Dawson et al. 2019), early-decayer (most records on trees of decay stage I–II) and late-decayer saprotrophs (stage III–V); and (b) physical decay strategy – white-rot and brown-rot producing species. The saprotrophs include some polypores that are frequent on very fine debris, and some ‘follower’ species that require wood decayed by other parasitic or saproxylic basidiomycetes (Holmer et al. 1997, Niemelä 2016).

We pooled all the available polypore records on naturally developed woody substrates, excluding building timber for which we only report the state of the knowledge. The records are from the datasets I-IIIa (Table 1) and, for Juniperus communis, as summarized by Sell & Koti-ranta (2011). Host tree species have been indicated in all these datasets. We additionally distinguished the main woody fractions and decay stages – those data mostly originate from the systematic surveys (datasets IIa-d). We re-coded the decay stages I–II sensu Renvall (1995) as ‘early’, III as ‘medium’, and IV–V as ‘late’; in the latter we also included casual records describing the wood as “extremely decayed”. Fine woody debris (FWD) includes both fallen and standing dead wood items < 10 cm in diameter at the basidiome location.

Based on the distribution of records among all substrate categories, we distinguished regularly occurring and specialist polypores for a substrate category as follows. ‘Regular’ species, either: had ≥5% records on that substrate category of the species’ total of ≥40 records in Estonia, or had > 1 records there of its total of < 40 records, or accounted for ≥5% of all polypore records in that substrate category. ‘Specialists’ were a subset of regular species, which had > 2 records from a particular substrate category and this formed either ≥90% of all Estonian records of that species, or all records if the total number of records was 3–9.

Similarity of polypore species composition of native host tree species was further explored with hierarchical cluster analysis based on presence-absence data, Bray-Curtis dissimilarity measure and the average linkage method (r package vegan; Oksanen et al. 2016). Because presence-absence data would over-emphasize atypical substrates, only polypores occurring regularly on each tree species (≥5% of total records in the tree or polypore species) were included in this analysis.

RESULTS

Estonian polypore diversity

Parmasto (2004) reported 212 polypore species in Estonia, of which 198 can be currently considered accepted, although several have been subdivided on a larger geographical scale (e.g. Antrodia crassa, Antrodia sitchensis, Polyporus tuberaster, Postia sericeomollis and Skeletocutis nivea s. str. are not known in Estonia). Six of those species are now listed as Regionally Extinct based on the lack of records for > 50 years: Antrodia heteromorpha, Diplomitoporus crustulinus, Inonotopsis subiculosa, Inonotus dryadeus, Phellinus viticola, and Polyporus pseudobetulinus (Table 2). Probably, they were already extinct in 2004. Excluded species include seven formerly recognized taxa (Antrodia albida, Ceriporia subreticulata, Phellinus cinereus, Postia lactea, Sistotrema albopallescens, Skeletocutis subincarnata, and Trametes velutina) that are now merged with other species known in Estonia. We also excluded two putative new Phellinus species on Parmasto’s list (status as independent species not supported). Five species were excluded because the historical material had been misidentified: Antrodiella canadensis, Ganoderma adspersum, and Skeletocutis alutacea (all specimens checked), and Postia lateritia and Trichaptum laricinum (most specimens checked, none confirmed). Two species, Aurantiporus priscus (a part of “Hapalopilus salmonicolor” records in Parmasto 2004) and Ganoderma carnosum, remain on our list based on Parmasto’s original identifications; the collections have survived but we failed to obtain sequences from this old material.

As of July 2019, the list comprises 221 verified extant species (Table 2), including 11 with no post-2004 records (Anomoloma albolutescens, Antrodiella parasitica, Aurantiporus priscus, Ganoderma carnosum, Oxyporus ravidus, Perenniporia tenuis, Polyporus submelanopus, P. tubaeformis, Sistotrema dennisii, Tyromyces fumidiceps, and Xanthoporus syringae). Seventeen extant species have been only recorded once, and six only twice (Table 2); 11 of these extremely rare species were recorded in 2005–18. Based on the numbers of accepted species, singletons and doubletons, the Chao (1987) estimate for expected species richness is 245 extant species. Additionally, there are records of at least 20 lineages that may deserve species status (see under Difficult species below; Table 3). Three species are, according to current records, restricted to the West-Estonian, and nine to the East-Estonian geobotanic regions (only species with > 1 records considered).

Table 3.

Lineages of unnamed and/or collective polypore species in Estonia. Freq – no. of records in Estonia (* 1; ** 2–5; *** > 5)

Vouchers from Estonia Best match from outside Estonia
Taxon Lineage Voucher ID UNITE SH code at 1.5% threshold level Similarity % (no. of variable/total sites) Annotation GenBank no. Similarity to voucher % (no. of variable/total sites) Freq.
Antrodiella faginea L1 TU130324 SH1600328.08FU 99% (6/549 BP) A. faginea (CZ) AF126885 100% (0/549 BP) ***
L2 TU130481 SH1600328.08FU A. faginea (RU) KU726586 100% (0/547 BP) ***
Byssoporia terrestris L1 TU130505 SH1542891.08FU 79% (124/583 BP) B. terrestris (FI) UDB031621 99% (2/576 BP) *
L2 TU130449 SH1629432.08FU B. terrestris (SE) EU118608 83% (101/587 BP) **
Ceriporia excelsa L1 (s. typi) TU115577 SH2141340.08FU 98% (15/909 BP) C. excelsa (US) MH858306 100% (0/598 BP) ***
L2 TU124431 SH1510726.08FU Ceriporia sp. (US) KP135050 99% (2/598 BP) *
Ceriporia viridans L1 (s. typi) TU130515 SH1510720.08FU 97% (27/902 BP) C. viridans s str. (FI) KX236481 99% (4/549 BP) ***
L2 TU130057 SH1510723.08FU C. viridans s str. (FI) KX236481 97% (23/549 BP) ***
Ceriporiopsis pseudogilvescens L1 (s. typi) TU122449 SH1543621.08FU 99% (2/597 BP) C. pseudo-gilvescens (CN) KU509523 100% (0/597 BP) ***
L2 TU129148 SH1543621.08FU C. resinascens (SK) FJ496679 99% (2/597) **
Coltricia cinnamomea L1 TU110786 SH1651067.08FU 76–99% (8–151/574 BP) C. cinnamomea (CN) KY693732 88% (72/584 BP) **
L2 TU113488 SH1651067.08FU C. cinnamomea (CN) KY693732 87% (73/580 BP) **
L3 TU106861 SH1611633.08FU Coltricia sp. (MX) MG966155 98% (12/595 BP) *
L4 TAAM196949 SH1651068.08FU C. cinnamomea (CN) KY693729 90% (63/608 BP) *
Coltricia perennis L1 TU106858 SH1554196.08FU 86–99% (8–76/553 BP) C. perennis (US?) DQ234560 99% (8/541 BP) *
L2 TU110835 SH1554196.08FU C. perennis (US?) DQ234560 100% (0/538 BP) *
L3 TU106860 SH1554198.08FU C. perennis (FI) MF319057 99% (2/543 BP) **
Physisporinus sanguinolentus L1 TU122889 SH1558568.08FU 97% (19/543 BP) P. furcatus (RU) KY131853 98% (12/532 BP) **
L2 TU129782 P. furcatus (CN) KY131856 99% (5/536 BP) *
Physisporinus vitreus L1 TU130068 SH1615294.08FU 94–99% (2–27/464 BP) P. sanguinolentus (SE) JX109843 99% (5/541 BP) ***
L2 TU129958 SH1615294.08FU P. sanguinolentus (SE) JX109843 99% (4/541 BP) **
L3 TU130572 SH1615294.08FU P. sanguinolentus (SE) JX109843 99% (1/463 BP) **
L4 TU122877 SH1615296.08FU P. sanguinolentus (SK) FJ496671 100% (1/539 BP) **
Sidera spp. L1 (annual) TU122801 SH1544622.08FU 80–86%% (90–176/871 BP) Sidera sp. (US) KP814157 97% (15/597 BP) **
L2 (annual) TU129576 SH1612214.08FU Schizopora sp. (US) MF161274 99% (4/587 BP) ***
L3 (perennial) TU122545 SH1540362.08FU Sidera vulgaris (AU) FN907922 96% (12/280 BP) ***
Sistotrema alboluteum L1 TU121700 SH1506830.08FU 95% (28/538 BP) S. aff. alboluteum (US) KP814533 94% (30/538 BP) **
L2 TU130503 SH1506832.08FU S. aff. alboluteum (US) KP814533 99% (2/534 BP) *
Sistotrema muscicola L1 TU130567 SH1539308.08FU Sistotrema sp. (US) KP814242 91% (48/533 BP) **
L2 TAAM180781 SH1506835.08FU 85–94% (30–72/530 BP) S. muscicola (FI) AJ606040 99% (1/475 BP) *
L3 TAAM202939 SH1539286.08FU Sistotrema sp. (US) KP814241 91% (51/537 BP) **
L4 TU130466 SH1539297.08FU Sistotrema sp. (US) KP814241 91% (47/525 BP) *
Skeletocutis sp. (kuehneri group) TU128024 SH1541633.08FU Skeletocutis chrysella (FI) FN907916 95% (28/583 BP) *

Species were added to the 2004 list for three reasons (* solely from casual collections) and include two species newly reported for Europe (Polyporus submelanopus, P. ulleungus):

  1. Ten established species were found in nature for the first time after 2004: Coltricia cinnamomea, C. confluens, Fibroporia norrlandica, Obba rivulosa, Perenniporia narymica, Phellinus hippophaeicola*, Postia auricoma, Pycnoporellus alboluteus*, Skeletocutis jelicii, and Trametopsis cervina*. Eight of these (excluding F. norrlandica and O. rivulosa) are easy to find and identify, and may thus constitute true recent additions to the Estonian mycota.

  2. Nine species have been distinguished from other species present in the area and confirmed or likely to be present in the pre-2004 material of the collective species: Ceriporia bresadolae (from C. purpurea), Hapalopilus aurantiacus and H. ochracolateritius (from “H. salmonicolor” sensu Parmasto 2004), Postia cyanescens, P. simulans and P. populi (from P. alni and P. caesia), and Skeletocutis futilis, S. nemoralis and S. semipileata (from S. nivea s. str. that is not known in North Europe).

  3. Ten species, now confirmed in Estonia, have been described or reinstated only after 2004. Of these, Antrodia leucaena has been confirmed by us also in the Estonian pre-2004 material, and Polyporus submelanopus* only in that material. The other species are: Aporpium macroporum, Ceriporia aurantiocarnescens, C. torpida, Junghuhnia autumnale, Leptoporus erubescens, Polyporus ulleungus, Skeletocutis delicata, and S. exilis.

Difficult species

We distinguished 13 species groups of Estonian polypores, for which the assessment of population status and ecology was complicated (details in Additional file 5). In most cases, the problem was unresolved taxonomy: molecular data revealed that the prevailing species concept included cryptic lineages (Table 3, Additional file 3), some with documented ecological differences. Specifically, Estonian specimens referred to in Table 2 by the accepted names Antrodiella faginea, Byssoporia terrestris, Ceriporia excelsa, C. viridans, Ceriporiopsis pseudogilvescens, Physisporinus sanguinolentus, Sidera vulgaris, and Sistotrema alboluteum represented two distinct lineages each, and those identified as Coltricia cinnamomea, C. perennis, Physisporinus vitreus and Sistotrema muscicola at least three lineages each. Additionally, we sequenced an undescribed lineage related to Skeletocutis kuehneri/brevispora, and found that the Estonian specimens of Sidera lenis do not match with its prevailing species concept. In the Ceriporiopsis resinascens / C. pseudogilvescens lineages, the main morphological characteristics represented a continuum and some specimens had ITS copies from multiple lineages. The abundance of records or their habitat diversity indicated no apparent conservation concern in any lineages of Antrodiella faginea and Ceriporia viridans, while at least one likely threatened lineage was detected in Ceriporia excelsa, Coltricia cinnamomea, C. perennis, and Sidera vulgaris.

Another, sometimes combined problem was the lack of stable morphological character combinations to enable species identification in recently revised species groups; this introduced large uncertainty to interpreting historical collections and observations. For example, the species earlier known as Postia caesia, P. alni, P. leucomallella, and Skeletocutis nivea have been considered easily identifiable in the field and their mostly observational data cannot be ascribed to the recently segregated species. Also, sequencing of European fungarium specimens of black-stiped Polyporus collections is recommended due to high likelihood of finding species traditionally not considered to occur in Europe.

Functional traits

Most Estonian polypore species produce annual basidiomes, but in 51 species these survive for at least 2–3 years (usually > 3 years in 33 of these). The prevailing life strategy is saprotrophy, with at least 12 species being follower species of other wood-inhabiting (parasitic or saprotrophic) polypores (Table 2). Based on systematic surveys (datasets IIa–c; Table 1), basidiomes of the follower species are found 1–3 orders of magnitude less frequently than their predecessor species. A wide variation can occur in the same predecessor species, e.g., the Estonian records among the followers of Trichaptum abietinum range from one (Antrodiella parasitica) to 380 (Skeletocutis carneogrisea).

Thirty-four polypore species are parasites of live trees or shrubs, but usually continue living as saprotrophs after death of the host-tree. Three parasitic species (Heterobasidion annosum, H. parviporum, and Phellinus tremulae) are considered economically important forest pathogens in Estonia. Thirteen polypore species are considered strictly or facultatively ectomycorrhizal (Albatrellus, Boletopsis, Coltricia, and Sistotrema) (Table 2). Distinctly among functional groups, mycorrhizal polypores are most diverse in dry and low-productive forest types: eight species inhabit alvar forests (on calcareous soil), eight dry boreal, and seven boreal heath forests (on sandy soil). In contrast, only three mycorrhizal species have been found in eutrophic sites, five in meso-eutrophic, and three in swamp forests.

Habitat types and assemblages

Among the three broad forest successional stages (Table 2), the largest numbers of species have been recorded in mid-successional forests (146; incl. 16 parasitic and five wholly or partially mycorrhizal species) and late-successional forests (146; incl. 19 parasitic and eight wholly or partially mycorrhizal species). The largest numbers of threatened species were found in late-successional (38 species) and mid-successional forests (34). Based on systematic surveys (Table 1: datasets IIa–c), the most abundant species in mid- and late-successional forests are Fomitopsis pinicola (10.5% of 18,026 records), Trichaptum abietinum (8.5%), and Fomes fomentarius (7.4%). In post clear-cut (early-successional) stands, most abundant are Gloeophyllum sepiarium (9.0% of 4939 records), F. pinicola (7.5%), and Trametes hirsuta (6.4%). However, these proportions are underestimates compared with rarer species, since our sampling included up to ten records of each species per plot (see Methods).

Estonian polypore assemblages in > 20 year-old forests are primarily organized along the soil (site type) and tree species composition gradients (Fig. 2; Additional file 6). The first ordination axis broadly distinguished assemblages on fertile soils from those on poor soils (sandy, thin calcareous, or peat soils) (MRPP test: A = 0.08, p < 0.001). The second axis ranged from deciduous- to Pinus-dominated stands, with Picea-dominated forests in the middle (MRPP tests: A = 0.07–0.09, p < 0.001, for the contrasts with Pinus-dominated sites; A = 0.03, p = 0.02, for Picea- vs deciduous-dominated sites). These two gradients overshadowed soil moisture effects; e.g., Pinus-dominated sites with contrasting moisture conditions (dry alvar forests, wet drained peatland, and bog forests) were positioned close to each other, but clearly apart from moist sites dominated by either Picea or deciduous trees (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination diagram of polypore assemblages in 54 site-type group × tree species × age combinations (points; the number codes explained in Additional file 1). The two-dimensional solution with the final stress value of 0.166 is shown. The symbols denote woodland types; photo credits: E. Lõhmus, P. Lõhmus, A. Palo. Note the three woodland types represented by a single pooled species list: parks (44), wooded meadows (49) and bog forests (50)

Across natural forest types, polypore assemblages formed a continuum in the ordination space (Fig. 2), i.e., only distant types differed significantly from each other. For example, the assemblages in eutrophic sites appeared close to those in meso-eutrophic or swamp sites (MRPP: A ≤ 0.01, Bonferroni corrected p > 0.1), but differed from all other forest site-type groups (A = 0.09–0.14, p < 0.033 in all comparisons). Such a pattern is also revealed on the Euler diagrams: increasing proportions of species common to more similar site types, but a relatively small number of generalists across all habitat types (Fig. 3A,B middle section). The most distinct assemblages in natural forests were in alvar forests that differed from all others (A = 0.08–0.17, p < 0.034 in all comparisons), except perhaps heath forests (A = 0.13, p = 0.067). Specific species in our sample of alvar forests were the ectomycorrhizal Albatrellus citrinus and Boletopsis leucomelaena, and saprotrophic Anomoloma myceliosum and Skeletocutis jelicii. The largest number of habitat-specific species inhabit natural forests on nutrient-rich soils: 21 such species in eutrophic and swamp sites combined, including 18 extremely rare or threatened species (e.g. Picea-inhabiting Amylocystis lapponica, Antrodia piceata, and Skeletocutis brevispora; Populus-inhabiting Aporpium macroporum, Junghuhnia fimbriatella, and Inonotus rheades).

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

Euler diagrams of 189 polypore species (including singletons) found in different combinations of Estonian habitat types on fertile soils (a) and poor soils (b). The numbers before parentheses indicate species found in every habitat type included in the combination; the numbers in parentheses indicate species that have not been found elsewhere (considering both types of soils); examples are illustrated on the photos (Photo credit: V. Liiv, E. Lõhmus, O. Miettinen, U. Ojango). The habitat combinations shown were extracted by the eulerr package (Larsson 2018); see Additional file 7 for statistics of other habitat combinations

All anthropogenic woodland types (drained peatland forests, parks, and wooded meadows) hosted distinct polypore assemblages (Fig. 2). Drained peatland forests revealed two specific species (Postia auricoma; Antrodia macra) and their full assemblages resembled most those in dry boreal (MRPP test: A = 0.04, p = 0.060) or meso-eutrophic forests (A = 0.04, p = 0.069), while all other forest site-type groups were dissimilar (A = 0.09–0.11, p < 0.035). Parks and wooded meadows were each represented with one pooled species list in our data; thus we could not formally test their assemblage differences. However, as illustrated by the Euler diagrams (Fig. 3), parks had the largest number of specific species (13) and seven polypores are largely confined to large oaks (Quercus robur) and elms (Ulmus glabra) typical of parks and wooded meadows (Daedalea quercina, Fistulina hepatica, Grifola frondosa, Inonotus ulmicola, Phellinus robustus, Perenniporia medulla-panis, and Polyporus umbellatus). Some of the latter species also inhabit the rare natural oak stands in Estonia, which have not been systematically surveyed; casual data show that such stands additionally host some highly threatened species (Aurantiporus croceus and Haploporus tuberculosus).

Woody substrates and substrate specificity

Host tree species data were available for 204 Estonian polypore species that inhabit natural woody substrates (Table 4). Sixty (29%) of these species can be considered tree-species specialists. Picea abies stands out with most associated species (108) and threatened species (40), and one-third of all specialist species (20, including 11 threatened species). The other polypore-rich trees include Pinus sylvestris and Betula spp. (the most abundant tree species in Estonia) and Populus tremula. Quercus robur is the only other tree species with several specialist polypores recorded. In contrast, small-sized woody species – shrubs and trees, which mostly stay in forest understories – generally lack specialist polypores (Botryodontia millavensis on Juniperus communis being the only exception). Phellinus tuberculosus and Phylloporia ribis are two specialized polypores so far only reliably recorded on fruit trees and shrubs in gardens (Table 4), although both have potential congenerous wild hosts in woodlands (Prunus padus/spinosa and Ribes spp., respectively).

Table 4.

Numbers of polypore species recorded on naturally developed woody substrates in Estonia. The most species rich substrate in each substrate category (column) is indicated with bold script. Species counts by substrate type and decay stage may not correspond to the pooled species count of a tree species since some records lacked detailed substrate data. See Methods for the criteria of ‘regular’ and ‘specialist’ species. ‘-‘no information

No. of species (no. of red-listed species: NT-RE)
Substrate types pooled Substrate type Decay stage
All Regular Specialist Fallen trunk Snag, stump FWD Live tree Early Medium Late
Native woody species Picea abies 108(40) 73(26) 20(11) 101(38) 54(11) 57(13) 13(1) 66(17) 79(21) 61(17)
Populus tremula 102(23) 58(13) 11(8) 85(21) 44(6) 59(10) 17(3) 56(3) 67(10) 42(11)
Betula spp. 97(18) 67(8) 8(0) 77(12) 58(3) 68(5) 16(1) 62(4) 75(8) 69(7)
Pinus sylvestris 89(25) 60(16) 10(1) 77(23) 35(3) 54(11) 8(2) 56(10) 61(15) 40(8)
Alnus glutinosa 71(7) 46(4) 0 60(6) 37(3) 48(3) 9(0) 39(5) 47(4) 40(2)
Alnus incana 54(5) 19(0) 0 35(3) 20(0) 32(1) 2(0) 22(1) 23(0) 13(0)
Quercus robur 54(14) 16(5) 6(3) 27(5) 17(2) 17(3) 12(6) 5(0) 3(0) 0
Salix spp. 52(7) 14(1) 1(0) 30(3) 16(2) 32(3) 9(1) 14(2) 21(2) 7(1)
Fraxinus excelsior 50(6) 18(2) 0 33(4) 20(1) 25(2) 7(0) 22(1) 27(2) 9(3)
Corylus avellana 49(3) 17(2) 0 22(1) 16(1) 38(3) 5(0) 24(0) 22(2) 15(1)
Tilia cordata 41(1) 10(1) 0 24(1) 16(1) 25(0) 7(0) 21(0) 23(1) 14(1)
Sorbus aucuparia 40(2) 7(0) 0 18(1) 10(0) 23(1) 4(0) 18(2) 19(0) 8(0)
Acer platanoides 33(4) 10(1) 0 21(2) 14(1) 9(0) 5(1) 9(0) 11(1) 5(0)
Ulmus spp. 30(5) 7(2) 1(1) 14(2) 11(1) 6(0) 5(3) 5(0) 7(1) 1(0)
Prunus padus 19(0) 3(0) 0 9(0) 6(0) 4(0) 2(0) 1(0) 3(0) 1(0)
Juniperus communis 16(5) 5(1) 1(1) 4(1) 2(0) 8(2) 1(0) 7(3) 2(1) 2(1)
Frangula alnus 7(0) 1(0) 0 0 2(0) 5(0) 0 6(0) 1(0) 1(0)
Exotic woody species Deciduous 31(6) 3(1) 0 7(1) 7(0) 3(0) 10(2)
Fruit trees, bushes 20(2) 3(0) 2(0) 6(0) 11(0) 0 12(2)
Coniferous 14(2) 1(1) 0 5(1) 3(0) 0 2(1)
TOTAL 204 (78)* 175 (57) 60 (25) 186 (67) 134 (30) 145 (35) 70 (16) 139 (33) 153 (39) 127 (30)

*In addition three species are known from unidentified tree species only

Among 152 wood-inhabiting species recorded > 10 times in Estonia, 52 (34%) have been found on 1–2 tree species, 50 (33%) on 3–7 tree species, and 49 (32%) on at least 8 tree species. Bjerkandera adusta (recorded on 18 host tree species), Trametes hirsuta (18), and T. versicolor (16) had the widest host range. Host-tree specificity differs among functional groups: parasitic polypores are most often restricted to 1–2 tree species (Fig. 4a), and white-rot producers are more often generalists than brown-rot producers (Fig. 4b).

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

No. of host tree species listed for wood-inhabiting polypore species with > 10 records in Estonia by life strategy (a) and by decay type (b). The categorization for each species given in Additional file 8

By their polypore assemblages, native woody hosts form three main clusters that largely follow taxonomic divisions (Fig. 5): (1) the two Estonian conifer trees of Pinaceae; (2) common soft-wooded deciduous trees, including all native trees of Betulaceae (Betula spp. and Alnus glutinosa being the most similar host pair) and Populus tremula (a distinct host); and (3) the remaining woody species, with the most distinct assemblages on nemoral hardwoods (Acer, Quercus, and Fraxinus); Salix spp. clustering together with Fraxinus; and a similar host pair of the native trees in RosaceaePrunus padus and Sorbus aucuparia.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 5

Similarity of polypore species composition on Estonian native tree species according to cluster analysis (average linkage method; Bray-Curtis dissimilarity). The main clusters of conifers, common soft-wooded deciduous tree species, and remaining tree or shrub species are indicated by coloured rectangles

Coarse downed wood (fallen trunks) is by far the most polypore-rich woody fraction, with the largest number of species found in the medium decay stage (Table 4). This is despite a wider range of host species (including shrubs) providing fine woody debris. Betula spp. differs from other main tree species by distribution of species richness among wood fractions: relatively many species on fine woody debris and in late decay stages. Parasitic polypores are relatively diverse on Quercus and exotic (ornamental) deciduous trees, but the scarcity of records among wood decay stages in these trees mainly shows poor substrate documentation.

In addition to natural substrates, there are observations of polypores on building timber. From 2002 to 2008, Pilt et al. (2009) reported four species as regular in wooded buildings: Antrodia serialis, A. sinuosa, Fibroporia vaillantii, and Fomitopsis pinicola. Parmasto (2004) additionally mentions rare occurrences of Fibroporia gossypium and Trametes ochracea as well as “Ceriporia purpurea” (probably C. bresadolae) on building timber in Estonia.

DISCUSSION

Our review demonstrates how integrating multiple data sources and their taxonomic and ecological appraisal can provide new perspectives on fungal species pools and their long-term dynamics. The practical opportunities discussed below included: posing new taxonomic and ecological hypotheses; fixing a state in the fungal biota for biodiversity monitoring purposes and retrospectives; providing a basis for red-listing individual species that considers all available data. The conservation issues can be further elaborated for management, which has been addressed elsewhere (Lõhmus et al. 2018b). Assessing the main factors behind changes in species lists helped us to understand actual changes in the biota and to prioritize research. We conclude that the Estonian polypore biota comprises over 260 species, of which roughly two-thirds were known 15 years ago according to their current species concepts, while the remaining third is divided between newly collected species, species distinguished from formerly known taxa, molecularly documented but yet-undescribed lineages, and species probably present but remaining to be found. Adding environmental DNA-samples to our basidiome data could be a next step to clarify the situation (cf. Kalsoom Khan et al. 2020).

Estonian polypore biota as a part of the north-European species pool

The composition of the current Estonian polypore biota can be primarily explained through their woodland habitats and fungal biogeography. Both these patterns refer to post-glacial vegetation development, notably the climate- and land use-driven transformation of Estonian forests during the last millennium (e.g., Reitalu et al. 2013). It remains poorly known how fungal distributions have responded to this history, but some insight can be obtained based on comparisons of current regional biotas.

We documented 221 polypore species and > 20 to be described in Estonia. Comparing ours with the checklists in the neighbouring countries reveals extensive overlap of polypore biota across North-Europe, but clear latitudinal and longitudinal variation in relative abundance of species. Both the Finnish and Norwegian list include 251 species (Niemelä 2016, Tom Hofton, pers. comm.); but at least in Finland fewer species with 1–2 records than in Estonia (calculated from Niemelä 2016). Nevertheless, all the country lists now appear rather complete and the total species pool in Norway, Sweden (excluding its nemoral southern part), Finland and Estonia might be around 300 currently accepted species.

The part of this North-European species pool not found in Estonia comprises: (1) ca. 20 species having northern or north-eastern distributions in boreal forests; (2) several species having southwestern distribution in the Baltic Sea region, with Fennoscandia records mostly in southern Sweden; and (3) many extremely rare species having poorly explained scattered occurrences in Fennoscandia. Assigning the six species now considered Regionally Extinct in Estonia to the same groups reveals a disproportionate loss of northern species, with only Inonotus dryadeus representing group (2). Latitudinal patterns are further reflected by several southern species found in Estonia, but not in south Finland less than 100 km north. Of such species, Abortiporus biennis, Coltricia confluens, Haploporus tuberculosus, and Perenniporia narymica are also present in south Sweden (cf. group 2 above), and only Oxyporus latemarginatus and Trametopsis cervina have no Fennoscandian records at all. Some of these species are thermophilous; e.g., Gloeophyllum trabeum is confined to warm wooden indoor facilities in Finland but has a viable sexually reproducing population in the Estonian nature.

Longitudinal patterns are less apparent and, perhaps, less frequent, but two situations can be distinguished in our data. First, at least Ceriporia tarda, Junghuhnia autumnale and J. fimbriatella have continuous eastern distributions that reach Estonia, but rarely (if at all) Scandinavia. Similar species found in eastern Finland, but not in Estonia, are Antrodia hyalina, A. tanakai, and Postia persicina (Niemelä 2016). Secondly, the DNA-barcoding methods have helped us to record in Estonia Polyporus submelanopus and P. ulleungus with so-far known distributions in the Far East (Xue & Zhou 2013, Tibpromma et al. 2017). That these species have not been recorded in Europe before may reflect insufficient molecular sampling or, alternatively, natural or human-mediated long-distance dispersal. Natural cross-border immigration from Russia has been hypothesized to have caused recent population increase in Estonia in some eastern species with continuous distributions, such as Amylocystis lapponica (Runnel et al. 2020). In the case of Far-Eastern species there is a possibility of artificial dispersal with long-distance trade in the Soviet period of Estonia (1945–1991).

Taxonomically unclear and exotic taxa

Taxonomically difficult situations remain common in European polypores despite much research undertaken. We documented, based on DNA (ITS) barcoding lineages, at least 20 likely undescribed species in Estonia alone. Since ITS differences can be minor among species in some genera, such as Antrodia and Antrodiella (Miettinen et al. 2012, Spirin et al. 2015), this number may increase when multiple genetic markers are used. At genus level, taxonomic revisions of Coltricia, Physisporinus, and Sistotrema (comprising at least 13 undescribed species in Estonia) appear as the priorities to clarify regional polypore biota. For some very rare lineages our data were too scarce to enable any ecological insight, and we encourage field work and international collaboration to add ecologically described records.

Some taxonomically resolved cases remain problematic in field sampling and for red-listing threatened species. For example, the collective taxa Postia alni, P. caesia, and Skeletocutis nivea remain in parallel use, because field identification of their cryptic constituent species is not reliable despite identification keys provided. How to apply those collective species concepts should be decided depending on questions being asked. If the goal is to record all constituent species of the collective taxa, vouchers should be regularly collected for laboratory assessment; e.g., sampling specimens from different substrates (Runnel et al. 2014).

Another uncertain part of the biota comprises exotic species. There is a considerable literature on the spread of wood-inhabiting fungi to exotic host trees, notably in plantations and on ornamental trees. Much less is known on how exotic host trees or anthropogenic substrates have changed the abundance or distribution patterns of the fungi (Burgess et al. 2016). In Estonia, parks, cemeteries, and gardens constitute poorly sampled habitats, and there are six polypore species (3% of the species pool) confined to introduced woody species in such settings. Four species are not applicable (NA) for conservation assessment: Phellinus tuberculosus and Postia balsamea have been only recorded on fruit trees in gardens, Ganoderma carnosum on Abies sp. (an exotic tree), and Ceriporia bresadolae on building timber. Additionally, Phellinus hippophaeicola has been only found once on a Hippophae rhamnoides (naturalized but mostly in plantations), and Phylloporia ribis (a frequent species) only occasionally outside gardens. A well-supported ecological conclusion, however, is that no exotic polypore has so far attained significant functional role in Estonian natural forests.

Checklist-based detection of changes in fungal biota

Monitoring fungal diversity remains a challenge (e.g., Halme et al. 2012) and, compared with plants or animals, fungal conservation perspectives have much poorer, often indirect, background knowledge on population dynamics. Unclear background undermines using fungi as indicators, which would be reasonable for different purposes (Lonsdale et al. 2008, Junninen & Komonen 2011, Heilmann-Clausen et al. 2015). A solution has been combining ecological studies on current fungal habitat relationships with habitat changes of the past (e.g., Kouki et al. 2001, Penttilä et al. 2006, Junninen & Komonen 2011). However, this requires key factors to be well known and includes hidden assumptions of stable regional species pools and habitat relationships in time. It cannot substitute documenting of changes in fungal biota, for which unfortunately no comprehensive and feasible survey methods exist.

Updated and critically revised regional checklists that integrate multiple data sources might thus remain crucial for monitoring full fungal diversity and for red-listing threatened species (Arnolds 2001). Yet, for credible interpretation of records, checklists must incorporate quality assessment, based on intensity and distribution of sampling effort, methodological heterogeneity, and species identification methods used. A set of critical issues assessed for our study (Table 5), implies that: (i) historical changes in the Estonian polypore biota can be summarized only by individual species (total numbers of species recorded are unreliable), (ii) at the current sampling intensity, ‘safe minimum’ temporal resolution of detecting strong trends and extirpation is ca. 30 years (see below), (iii) detectability (conspicuousness; identification; ecological impact) is a key consideration for evaluating the species’ trends.

Table 5.

A quality assessment scheme (quality criteria) proposed for regional checklists of macrofungi, exemplified by the current study

Quality criterion Assessment for the current checklist Limitations derived
Completeness < 10% unrecorded valid species (estimated from Chao index based on singleton/doubleton ratio [1]; also by analyzing species recorded in neighbouring countries) Total no. of recorded species poorly comparable
Taxonomic stability Ca. 5% recorded species taxonomically unresolved; up to 10% further additions as currently undescribed lineages Previous checklists cannot be used for direct comparisons
Documentation quality of source data All collections in public fungaria; 3% with publicly accessible DNA bar-codes (incl. vouchers of most taxa). > 95% observations geo-tagged and in public databases; however, samples from ecological studies largely identified based on observations. All species can be re-assessed from original material, but not all individuals (especially of common taxa).
Presentation quality References to remarkable specimens and datasets presented. Difficult specimens analyzed for phylogenetic relationships. Taxonomic and ecological data linked. Undescribed species can be followed in the material.
Differences between subsequent checklists Within 15 yrs., 15% increase in the no. of valid species, mostly due to adding ecological sampling designs. Different bias in historical [2] and current data (numbers of records cannot be simply corrected for sampling intensity)
Geographic coverage Western part of the country poorly studied using ecological sampling designs. Frequencies underestimated: taxa with western distributions.
Ecological representativeness Important understudied habitats: naturally disturbed areas, riverine woodlands, oak stands, and wooded grasslands with ancient trees [3–4], also gardens and buildings Frequencies underestimated: taxa inhabiting semi-open natural or cultural landscapes.
Species detectability bias Apparent in casual collections [5]; reduced in the main ecological sampling scheme used [6]. Difficult-to-detect species poorly represented in ecosystems with casual collection data only.
e-DNA data Not included. Extensive sequencing of soil fungi and some studies of wood samples have not revealed new species, but would probably reveal wider ecological niches of many taxa [3, 7]. Frequencies and ecological niches underestimated, specifically in mycorrhizal species.

References: [1] Chao 1987; [2] Parmasto 2004; [3] Runnel & Lõhmus 2017, [4] Lõhmus et al. 2018b, [5] Lõhmus 2009; [6] Lõhmus et al. 2018a; [7] Ovaskainen et al. 2013

Case studies illustrate these points. Regarding point (ii), a few iconic species can be perhaps monitored even at < 10 year resolution in Estonia (Runnel et al. 2020). More typically, however, a viable population of Trametes suaveolens (last seen in 1984 in the country) was discovered in much-visited Tallinn city in 2018; it would have been premature to consider the species Regionally Extinct (Runnel et al. 2018). Other long record gaps of rare, but apparently viable, populations include Hapalopilus aurantiacus and H. ochraceolateritius (1962–2006) and Dichomitus squalens (1980–2004). Highlighting point (iii), casual collection probability has varied by two orders of magnitude among Estonian polypore species, being smallest in species that produce poorly identifiable annual basidiomes (Lõhmus 2009). Such species are most likely to be missed in the country, especially if naturally rare, recently described, and inhabiting ecosystems not yet targeted by efficient ecological sampling schemes (see Lõhmus et al. 2018a). We can list around a dozen likely additions based on the well-studied Finnish biota (Niemelä 2016), e.g., Anomoporia kamtchatica, Antrodia infirma and A. mappa.

Considering temporal changes in the numbers of records by species (Table 2) against the study limitations (Table 5) reveals two broad patterns of change in the Estonian polypore diversity during the last 100 years. First, there is no evidence of changed total numbers of species, but apparent in the species pool is ca. 3–5% turnover (i.e., up to 10 losses and a comparable number of gains). The losses comprise six species officially listed as Regionally Extinct (see above) and probably a few others not encountered for decades (Aurantiporus priscus – since 1980, Xanthoporus syringae – since 1998) or unknown to have formed actual population in Estonia (Ganoderma carnosum – a record in 1975, Antrodiella parasitica – in 1995, Perenniporia tenuis – in 2004). All extirpated species were very rare by the twentieth century. Most reliable gains are among well-established conspicuous species with habitats or locations frequently visited. Such recent novelties include at least three southern species (Coltricia cinnamomea and Inonotus ulmicola first discovered in 2002, and Trametopsis cervina – 2015), three species with eastern distributions (Ceriporia tarda – 2004, Pycnoporellus alboluteus and Junghuhnia autumnale – 2010) and Postia auricoma (2013). Less conspicuous newcomer candidates include Skeletocutis jelicii (4 locations since 2015), Hyphodontia latitans (a single record in 1992, then 11 records since 2012) and Gelatoporia subvermispora (a single record in 1991, then 12 records since 2006). Trametes gibbosa (a southern species) may also have recently formed a true population (three locations since 2005) after a single, possibly occasional record in 1954.

Secondly, while species turnover refers to expansions and contractions of biogeographic ranges (perhaps related to climate change; cf. Musters & van Bodegom 2018), other strong trends of extant Estonian polypores suggest ecological mechanisms. Thus, no clear declines are apparent in species inhabiting common deciduous trees, including no support to Parmasto’s (2004) notes of decline in Pycnoporus cinnabarinus and Trichaptum biforme. There are some obvious increases instead, such as possibly climate-supported trends in southern species Hyphodontia flavipora (see also Heilmann-Clausen & Boddy 2008), H. radula and Dichomitus campestris – all formerly been considered very rare (Parmasto 2004). Increases in record numbers of less conspicuous species in similar habitats (e.g., Antrodiella romellii and Ceriporia reticulata) are rather caused by better sampling. Assuming that increased records of most inconspicuous annual polypores on strongly decayed wood follow survey effort as well, the 1–2 similar species with reductions in records may indicate actual population declines – Porpomyces mucidus and, perhaps, Anomoporia bombycina.

In conifer-inhabiting polypores, three ecological tendencies can be distinguished. Some management-sensitive species that inhabit fallen Picea abies trunks have increased, probably due to efforts to protect old forests. The case of Amylocystis lapponica is well documented (Runnel et al. 2020); other rare species with similar record patterns are Antrodia piceata and Antrodiella citrinella; and among more frequent species – Fomitopsis rosea, Junghuhnia collabens, and Postia undosa. Contrasting patterns, probably revealing population declines, are apparent in Onnia leporina, Climacocystis borealis and Skeletocutis stellae. Our data also support the decline of Gloeophyllum abietinum already noted by Parmasto (2004). We hypothesize that these species may be suffering from reduction of certain wood qualities, perhaps slowly grown trees (note that O. leporina and C. borealis often inhabit Picea abies snags). Finally, we notice increases in two formerly uncommon Pinus-inhabiting species that are now widespread in various forests, including extensive drained forests on former wooded mires – Junghuhnia luteoalba and Skeletocutis papyracea.

Broad-scale ecological patterns

Ecological case studies have been crucial for quantifying local variation in populations and assemblages, e.g. revealing their impoverishment by intensive forest management and the loss of natural forest (e.g., Penttilä et al. 2006, Junninen & Komonen 2011; for Estonia, see Lõhmus 2011, Runnel & Lõhmus 2017). Our review places those findings in the context of species pools, showing eventual extirpation of some species, but also some partial recoveries in protected forests and parallel, possibly climate-driven, shifts in distribution ranges (see above). Simultaneously, the taxonomic revisions clarify confusing reports of some putative old-forest indicator species inhabiting wider forest environments in Estonia. We now know that these represent distinct taxa (such as Antrodia cretacea instead of A. crassa, and Postia romellii instead of P. sericeomollis; cf. Runnel et al. 2014 and Runnel & Lõhmus 2017), multiple species/lineages (such as among “Hapalopilus salmonicolor”, Sidera vulgaris coll., and Physisporinus vitreus coll.) or misidentification (Postia lateritia). Based on our review, ca. half of the species listed 20 years ago as old-forest (‘hemerophobic’) polypores in Estonia (Trass et al., 1999) should probably be replaced or removed from that list to keep its focus.

Our analyses of species pools indicated that, under natural conditions, polypore assemblages would mostly vary along soil conditions and dominant forest trees. This parallels with findings on soil fungi (Tedersoo et al. 2020) and implies that forestry practices that change those factors, such as draining and artificial regeneration, are likely to be highly influential to all fungi. Distinct polypore biota on calcareous soils (alvar forests) was not known before; this finding is significant because alvar forests have been heavily degraded due to historical logging and agricultural use, and they regenerate slowly after being disturbed (Laasimer 1965). Even protected alvar forests have sometimes been mismanaged by removing dead wood, which is also essential for rare bryophytes (Meier & Paal 2009).

A pattern that soil fertility can create more assemblage variation than soil moisture is not directly applicable because our analysis separated their indirect effects via tree species composition. Both effects together explain why our ordination result (Fig. 2) resembles a Cajanderian organization of forest types solely based on soil characteristics (Lõhmus 1984). At a closer look, the pattern that polypore assemblages in drained peatland forests are more similar to meso-eutrophic forests on mineral soils than to other peatland forests has not been supported for several other organism groups – draining instead appears to produce novel assemblages (Remm et al. 2013). We also acknowledge that our approach to tree species effects was simplified (three categories analysed), and future studies should better address tree-species mixtures that are typical of hemiboreal forests (see also Tedersoo et al. 2016).

The importance of soil conditions highlights a necessity to better survey soil-inhabiting polypores. Our basidiome-based datasets suggested their higher diversity in poorer site conditions that might indicate stricter resource limitation and ecological advantages for mycorrhizal life-style in poor ecosystems. In general, however, polypores are rare and unlikely at key functional positions in mycorrizal assemblages in Estonia (e.g., Tedersoo et al. 2006, 2020; Bahram et al. 2011); a possible exception is Coltricia perennis – a dominant colonizer of early-successional Pinus sites (Visser 1995, Kwaśna et al. 2019). Summarizing the work done on DNA-based soil sampling could also improve our understanding of the ecology and conservation status of several species.

Regarding substrates, we found that the species having parasitic or brown-rot decay life strategies tend to be restricted to fewer host-tree species. This is probably linked with trade-offs of these life strategies, of which better understood are the highly demanding growth conditions inside live trees that require specific stress-tolerant traits in parasites (Schwarze et al. 2013). Brown-rot fungi may have distinct physiological limitations, indicated also by their typical disability to degrade pure cellulose (Nilsson & Ginns 1979) or possibly lower wood pH optima (Highley 1976). However, these differences are in need of revision since the dichotomy of white- and brown-rot fungi has been challenged based on genetic data (Riley et al. 2014). Physiological limitations set by wood chemistry and structure and tree defence mechanisms probably explain also our finding that phylogenetically closer tree species tend to host more similar pools of polypore species. Some ecological confounding effects are possible (i.e., related tree species may also grow in similar sites) but not very likely, given our result of the similarity of polypore assemblages in the hydrologically contrasting dry boreal and bog sites (both dominated by Pinus sylvestris).

Comparison of species pools on different woody substrates reveals an unexpected issue with natural stand regeneration – a sustainability indicator in forestry (Forest Europe, 2015). In the Estonian clear-cutting based forestry, natural regeneration on fertile sites mostly comprises Betula, Alnus, and Populus species, which cluster together by polypore assemblages (Fig. 5). Planting Picea abies may diversify this situation if the stands are allowed to develop into mixed stands with coarse woody debris present (Lõhmus 2011), while the third cluster of broad-leaved trees would still be absent. Given also that Picea abies hosts the most diverse polypore assemblages overall (Table 4), of which large part inhabits old stands (Runnel & Lõhmus 2017), there is clear conservation motivation to use silvicultural alternatives that better account for substrate diversity (see also Lõhmus et al. 2018b). We also noticed that Fraxinus and Ulmus, both currently suffering from dieback due to introduced pathogens in Europe (Brasier 1991, Pautasso et al. 2013), have only moderately distinct assemblages when the remaining native tree diversity is present (Fig. 5). Thus, these specific dieback episodes are not likely to have strong negative impact on polypore biota in Estonia.

A perspective

Our broad question was whether, in the case of fungi, critically appraised checklists might provide standard input to global biodiversity indicators, and whether polypores could constitute a fungal group to be included. Looking at the insights obtained in Estonia, we consider this a promising direction, which depends on standardizing checklist quality, attaining a representative sample of checklists from different parts of the world, and including ecological data. Among potential values of such a scheme would be inclusion of many rare species and utilizing historical information. The possibility for a retrospective might even be a criterion for including fungal groups (e.g., epiphytic lichens; Ellis et al. 2011). However, it is unlikely that current monitoring and retrospectives can use similar methods, which again points at checklists as a common platform. We thus encourage new regional syntheses on polypores and other long-studied fungal groups.

CONCLUSION

Our review demonstrates how integrating multiple data sources and their taxonomic and ecological appraisal can provide new perspectives on fungal species pools, rare and undescribed species, and their long-term dynamics. The test case, the Estonian polypore biota, comprises over 260 species, of which 221 are verified extant species, and the remaining are molecularly documented but yet-undescribed lineages or species probably present but remaining to be found. During the last 100 years, the biota experienced ca. 3–5% species turnover, including directional changes but no obvious trend in diversity. Attaining a representative sample of high-quality checklists for flagship fungal groups from could be an approach to elaborating global indicators of fungal diversity.

Supplementary Information

43008_2020_50_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx (14.7KB, xlsx)

Additional file 1. Estonian forest types, their main characteristics, and treatment in the polypore habitat analyses.

43008_2020_50_MOESM2_ESM.xlsx (23KB, xlsx)

Additional file 2. The 2-ha plots of systematic polypore surveys in Estonia, their woodland type classifications and references to publications that used the survey results.

43008_2020_50_MOESM3_ESM.xlsx (20.4KB, xlsx)

Additional file 3. Collection details, UNITE or GenBank accession numbers for ITS and LSU sequences of Estonian specimens analyzed in this study.

43008_2020_50_MOESM4_ESM.xlsx (16.5KB, xlsx)

Additional file 4. Specimen vouchers, geographic location, and UNITE or GenBank accession numbers for public reference sequences (ITS and LSU) used in phylogenetic trees.

43008_2020_50_MOESM5_ESM.docx (22.8MB, docx)

Additional file 5. Taxonomic notes and phylogenetic trees of difficult species.

43008_2020_50_MOESM6_ESM.docx (129.9KB, docx)

Additional file 6. Non-metric multidimentional scaling (NMDS) ordination diagrams of polypore assemblages: (A) in forests on fertile and poor (excl. calcareous) soils and thin calcareous soils; (B) in woodlands with Picea and Pinus (including their mixedwood) or dominated by deciduous trees.

43008_2020_50_MOESM7_ESM.xlsx (238.6KB, xlsx)

Additional file 7. Numbers of common and unique species for habitat combinations not shown on Euler diagrams (Fig. 3).

43008_2020_50_MOESM8_ESM.xlsx (16.5KB, xlsx)

Additional file 8. Nutritional-mode categorization of wood-inhabing polypore species with > 10 records in Estonia (input data for Fig. 4).

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the huge work led by late Prof. Erast Parmasto with establishing the polypore research tradition and collections in Estonia. Many professional and amateur mycologists have contributed data and collections during the last 15 years, notably Indrek Sell, Urmas Ojango and Vello Liiv. Irja Saar organized these data in PlutoF database, sequenced casual polypore collections, shared two private sequences and assisted with loans from TU. Kadri Pärtel provided specimens for loan from TAAM and assisted with our work with E. Parmasto’s archives. Kristel Turja and Irma Zettur helped with data management. The DNA-lab at the Tartu University Mycology Department, notably Rasmus Puusepp and Heidi Tamm, helped with molecular samples. When preparing the manuscript, we received help from Kadri Põldmaa, Viacheslav Spirin and Josef Vlasak (comments on difficult species); Tom Hofton (unpublished list of Norwegian polypores); and Vello Liiv, Anneli Palo and Urmas Ojango (photo images). David L. Hawksworth and an anonymous reviewer kindly commented on the first version of the manuscript.

Adherence to national and international regulations

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid

rDNA

Ribosomal ribonucleic acid

ITS

Internal transcribed spacer

LSU

Large subunit

MRPP

Multi-response permutation procedures

NMDS

Non-metric multidimensional scaling

Authors’ contributions

KR and AL planned the study, collected and interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript. KR identified the collected fungal specimens and analysed the data. OM provided additional data on the “Difficult species” section, participated in writing of this section and reviewed the whole manuscript draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

The systematic ecological surveys in 2004–2017, which provided most new data for the manuscript, were financed by the Estonian Research Council (grants SF0180012s09, IUT-34, and ETF6457 to A.L.), the Estonian Environmental Board (grant LLTOM16048) and the Estonian Centre of Environmental Investments (project 11061) to K.R. The financing covered design of the studies, collection, species identification, data analysis, interpretation and writing of this manuscript.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available in the Plutof repository:

https://plutof.ut.ee/#/doi/10.15156/BIO/786358https://plutof.ut.ee/#/doi/10.15156/BIO/786363

https://plutof.ut.ee/#/doi/10.15156/BIO/786357

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Footnotes

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

43008_2020_50_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx (14.7KB, xlsx)

Additional file 1. Estonian forest types, their main characteristics, and treatment in the polypore habitat analyses.

43008_2020_50_MOESM2_ESM.xlsx (23KB, xlsx)

Additional file 2. The 2-ha plots of systematic polypore surveys in Estonia, their woodland type classifications and references to publications that used the survey results.

43008_2020_50_MOESM3_ESM.xlsx (20.4KB, xlsx)

Additional file 3. Collection details, UNITE or GenBank accession numbers for ITS and LSU sequences of Estonian specimens analyzed in this study.

43008_2020_50_MOESM4_ESM.xlsx (16.5KB, xlsx)

Additional file 4. Specimen vouchers, geographic location, and UNITE or GenBank accession numbers for public reference sequences (ITS and LSU) used in phylogenetic trees.

43008_2020_50_MOESM5_ESM.docx (22.8MB, docx)

Additional file 5. Taxonomic notes and phylogenetic trees of difficult species.

43008_2020_50_MOESM6_ESM.docx (129.9KB, docx)

Additional file 6. Non-metric multidimentional scaling (NMDS) ordination diagrams of polypore assemblages: (A) in forests on fertile and poor (excl. calcareous) soils and thin calcareous soils; (B) in woodlands with Picea and Pinus (including their mixedwood) or dominated by deciduous trees.

43008_2020_50_MOESM7_ESM.xlsx (238.6KB, xlsx)

Additional file 7. Numbers of common and unique species for habitat combinations not shown on Euler diagrams (Fig. 3).

43008_2020_50_MOESM8_ESM.xlsx (16.5KB, xlsx)

Additional file 8. Nutritional-mode categorization of wood-inhabing polypore species with > 10 records in Estonia (input data for Fig. 4).

Data Availability Statement

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available in the Plutof repository:

https://plutof.ut.ee/#/doi/10.15156/BIO/786358https://plutof.ut.ee/#/doi/10.15156/BIO/786363

https://plutof.ut.ee/#/doi/10.15156/BIO/786357


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