West Siberian Latitudinal Xylomycological Scale and Its Use for Indicating Forest Conditions

Abstract

A quantitative analysis of the aphyllophoroid macromycetes of Betula complex on 207 sites of the territory of the West Siberian Plain in the range from forest tundra to forest steppe allows us to determine the width of the zone and its patterns for the biota of xylotrophic fungi. It is shown that the width and structure of the zonal xylomycocomplexes is determined, first and foremost, by climatic factors, which are characterized by an expressed hydrothermal gradient. They influence fungi directly also by the formation of the forest stand corresponding to climate. The sequence of width and zone xylomycocomplex of the region is a scale for the indication of forest vegetation conditions and parameters of the forest stand of a particular timber stand. Possibilities of indication are expanded with the differentiation of the xylomycocomplex and, respectively, its width and zone scale on functional fractions of fungi (stem, peripheral, and wound types). The scale is used for assessing the condition of woods in the Numto Natural Park (northern taiga). For the characteristic of each site, coefficients of correlation of numerical structure of this mycocenos and the zone xylomycocomplex in the range from the forest tundra to the forest steppe were obtained and calculated for functional groups. The configuration of the growth spectral curves obtained in this way and their mutual position indicates the peculiarities of the hydrothermal regime of a plot; the influence of mechanical damages on tree stands; and their physiological conditions, completeness, quality, and age. It is shown that, according to the results of mycological indication, forest conditions of the Numto National Park forest plots damaged by fires and clearcuttings correspond to forest conditions of the zones to the south of the park. Regularities of the West Siberian latitude and zone xylomycological scale are characterized by a certain universality for the forest biome of Siberia, which is confirmed by similar regularities obtained during a study of elevation and zone distribution of the xylomycocomplex of Transbaikalia.