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Compared to the previous projects FunWood I-II, which was largely concerned with the influence of forest management on microbial diversity in existing decomposing deadwood under field conditions, we are now shifting our focus to an experimental platform. Das BELongDead experiment was initiated in 2008 under the leadership of Prof. Dr. E.D. Schulze (MPI Biogeochemistry Jena) with the aim of investigating the influence of the surrounding habitat on deadwood and its decomposition processes. Another focus is on the long-term observation of the colonisation of the deadwood logs by a wide variety of organisms.

The aim is to investigate to what extent I) the surrounding ecosystem influences deadwood decomposition, II) how deadwood colonisation occurs and III) how microorganisms control deadwood decomposition and thus influence ecosystem processes such as nutrient turnover. BELongDead allows us to study the influence of land use in the form of forest management on a standardised set of deadwood (13 different tree species of the same size and decomposition onset), evenly distributed in 3 replicates in the 3 exploratories and in 3×3 differently managed plots each.

The aim of our project is to combine state-of-the-art molecular biological methods with classical fruiting body mapping and spore collections to I) determine the type and quantity of wood decomposition and different forest management aspects, II) observe and study distribution and succession patterns of fungi over time, III) determine fungal activity at the transcriptome and enzyme levels and correlate these results with process data, IV) determine resulting changes in wood chemistry, V) determine the influence of functionally different bacteria on fungal diversity, and VI) ultimately identify key species in these complex processes.


Meanwhile, the experiment reaches medium decomposition levels in different tree species. The following central hypotheses were derived:

1. increased forest management intensity reduces the species pool of wood-inhabiting fungi at the landscape and forest stand level.

2. intensive forest management is a habitat filter that favours certain species with certain life strategies (e.g. generalists).

3. forest management relaxes competitive interactions between wood-dwelling fungi, leading to higher wood decomposition rates.

4. wood decomposition processes are highly predictable from fruiting body dating combined with molecular data on phylogenetic and functional diversity.

5. there are very high bacterial diversities and certain bacteria occur non-randomly with certain fungi.

6. white rot fungi are the most relevant fungi in deadwood degradation and primarily use manganese peroxidases to degrade lignin and increase element bioavailability.


To answer our questions, we use state-of-the-art molecular biology techniques at the DNA and RNA level, including so-called “Next Generation Sequencing” techniques (NGS). Wood chemical parameters and enzymes are also determined using current methods. In addition to intensive fruiting body mapping, spore collectors are installed to identify airflow-based distribution patterns and, on the other hand, to be able to compare which fungi are potentially present (species pool) and which are already established in deadwood.


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Roy F., Ibayev O., Arnstadt T., Bässler C., Borken W., Groß C., Hoppe B., Hossen S., Kahl T., Moll J., Noll M., Purahong W., Schreiber J., Weisser W. W., Hofrichter M., Kellner H. (2023): Nitrogen addition increases mass loss of gymnosperm but not of angiosperm deadwood without changing microbial communities. Science of The Total Environment 900, 165868. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165868
More information:  doi.org
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Genomsequenzierung von Truncatella angustata (Anamorph) S358
Kellner H., Friedrich S., Schmidtke K.-U., Ullrich R., Kiebist J., Zänder D., Hofrichter M., Scheibner K. (2022): Draft genome sequence of Truncatella angustata (Anamorph) S358. Microbiology Resource Announcements 11 (7), e00052-22. doi: 10.1128/mra.00052-22
More information:  doi.org
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Entflechtung der Bedeutung von Raum und Wirtsbaum für die Beta-Diversität von Käfern, Pilzen und Bakterien: Lehren aus einem großen Totholzexperiment
Rieker D., Krah F.-S., Gossner M. M., Uhl B., Ambarli D., Baber K., Buscot F., Hofrichter M., Hoppe B., Kahl T., Kellner H., Moll J., Purahong W., Seibold S., Weisser W. W., Bässler C. (2022): Disentangling the importance of space and host tree for the beta-diversity of beetles, fungi, and bacteria: Lessons from a large dead-wood experiment. Conservation Biology 268, 109521. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109521
More information:  doi.org
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Hofrichter M., Kellner H., Herzog R., Karich A., Kiebist J., Scheibner K., Ullrich R. (2022): Peroxide-Mediated Oxygenation of Organic Compounds by Fungal Peroxygenases. Antioxidants 11 (1), 163. doi: 10.3390/antiox11010163
More information:  doi.org
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Bewertung von Primern für den Nachweis von totholzbewohnenden Archaeen mittels Amplikonsequenzierung
Moll J., Hoppe B. (2022): Evaluation of primers for the detection of deadwood-inhabiting archaea via amplicon sequencing. PeerJ 10: e14567. doi: 10.7717/peerj.14567
More information:  doi.org
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Molekulare Analyse endophytischer Pilzgemeinschaften in Buchen- und Fichtenstämmen und ihre öklogische Bedeutung
Krause L. (2022): Molekulare Analyse endophytischer Pilzgemeinschaften in Buchen- und Fichtenstämmen und ihre öklogische Bedeutung. Bachelor thesis, University Leipzig / UFZ Halle
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Moll J., Roy F., Bässler C., Heilmann-Clausen J., Hofrichter M., Kellner H., Krabel D., Schmidt J. H., Buscot F., Hoppe B. (2021): First evidence that nematode communities in deadwood are related to tree species identity and to co-occurring fungi and prokaryotes. Microorganisms 9 (7), 1454. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9071454
More information:  doi.org
Doc
Nematode Diversity and Community Composition in Deadwood of 13 Temperate Tree Species
Roy F. (2020): Nematode Diversity and Community Composition in Deadwood of 13 Temperate Tree Species. Master thesis, TU Dresden

Project in other funding periods

Picture: The photo shows a mushroom growing on a deadwood tree trunk lying in the forest
BLD-MFD-HZG III (Contributing project)
#Forest & Deadwood  #BELongDead  #FOX  #2020 – 2023  #Species biodiversity […]
BLD-MultiFuncDiv IV (Contributing project)
#Forest & Deadwood  #BELongDead  #2023 – 2026  #deadwood decomposition […]

Scientific assistants

Prof. Dr. Claus Bässler
Project manager
Prof. Dr. Claus Bässler
Universität Bayreuth
Prof. Dr. Francois Buscot (assoz.)
Alumni
Prof. Dr. Francois Buscot (assoz.)
Prof. Dr. Martin Hofrichter
Project manager
Prof. Dr. Martin Hofrichter
TU Dresden
Dr. Björn Hoppe
Project manager
Dr. Björn Hoppe
Julius Kühn-Institut
Dr. Harald Kellner
Project manager
Dr. Harald Kellner
TU Dresden
Dr. Julia Moll
Employee
Dr. Julia Moll
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH - UFZ
Sabrina Leonhardt
Alumni
Sabrina Leonhardt
Aleksandar Zarkov
Alumni
Aleksandar Zarkov
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