Characterization of the micromycete complex in the litter of experimental cultures of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta dougl.)

We studied the species diversity of cultivated micromycetes in the litter of 20-year-old experimental cultures of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl.). Cultures were created on lands that have come out of agricultural use. Seventeen species of microscopic fungi from 9 genera were identified. Species characteristic of taiga forests and widespread in forest ecosystems of the North were distinguished in the species composition of micromycetes. They are Penicillium camemberti, Penicillium lanosum, Pseudogymnoascus pannorum, Trichoderma koningii, Umbelopsis vinacea and light-colored sterile mycelium. It was found that the biomass of microscopic fungi in the studied litter is small and amounts to 0.75 mg/g dry soil, with mycelium accounting for 96 % of the biomass and fungal spores for 4 %. The mycelium of fungi is represented by functionally active hyphens of the "living" mycelia, 568 m/g dry soil long. In the litter formed under crops of longepole pine, the micromycete complex is represented by a low species diversity with a high proportion of occasional and rare species. It is characterized by functional immaturity, which is associated with low thickness of the litter, inhibition of the processes of mineralization and humification.