Relationships between Swiss needle cast and ectomycorrhizal fungus diversity

Swiss needle cast (SNC) is a disease specific to Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) caused by the ascomycete Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii. Here we examine characteristics of the EM fungus community that are potentially useful in predictive models that would monitor forest health. We found that mean EM density (number of colonized root tips/soil core) varied nearly 10-fold among sites of varying levels of SNC, while mean EM fungus species richness (number of species/soil core) varied by about 2.5 times. Strong relationships were found between EM and SNC parameters: EM species richness was positively correlated with both Douglas-fir needle retention (R(2) = 0.93) and EM density (R(2) = 0.65); EM density also was significantly correlated with Douglas-fir needle retention (R(2) = 0.70). These simple characteristics of the EM fungus community could be used to monitor forest health and generate predictive models of site suitability for Douglas-fir. Based on previous findings that normally common EM types were reduced in frequency on sites with severe SNC, we also hypothesized that some EM fungi would be stress tolerant-dominant species. Instead, we found that various fungi were able to form EM with the stressed trees, but none were consistently dominant across samples in the severely diseased areas.