The Effects of Prescribed Burning on Macrofungal Species Richness in Upland, White Oak Forest

Abstract

Fire provides an important disturbance to forest life and has been shown to affect a variety of aspects of forest ecology. We examined the effects of burning on macrofungal species richness in the upland, white oak forest at the Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA) in Grinnell, Iowa; we sampled macrofungi in six burned and six unburned plots and separated them into categories of macrofungi growing on wood and on the ground. The mean species richness was slightly higher in the burned plots than in the unburned plots, but not significantly. However, we found that woody macrofungi in the burned plots had a higher species richness than ground macrofungi in the burned plots. Our results did not support our hypothesis that there would be less species richness in burned plots and contradicts previous studies. This may indicate that in our study area, factors such as the intensity of the burning, fires effects on moisture, carbon, and leaf litter may all increase macrofungal growth one year after fire disturbance.