Structure of macrofungus communities in different habitats of small postglacial pond margins

Differences in fungus communities growing in margins of small postglacial ponds (PPMs) can be explained by land use. Some 66% of all species collected were recorded exclusively in PPMs located in meadows with solitary trees, and communities distinguished were typical of this kind of land use. These PPMs shared 26% of the species with two other kinds of PPMs, located in cultivated terrain, i.e. field and pasture (fed by cattle). These latter kinds of PPMs were distinguished by a much smaller number of fungus species (about 36% of total number of species), and no separate species populations were associated with them. There were also a number of eurytopic species (16% of total number), which occurred in all sites, some of them with similar frequencies. The investigated PPMs are very rich in saprotrophic fungus species (90% of total species number there), which is another argument for their peculiarity and need of protection of their habitats as they essentially contribute to maintaining fungus biodiversity. (C) 2003 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.