Ecology Of Fungi

289 Pages·1979·20.724 MB·\289

by  William Bridge Cooke (Author)

The Ecology
of
Fungi
Author
William Bridge Cooke
Mycologist (Retired)
Fungus Studies
Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center
Senior Research Associate
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
The Ecology
of
Fungi
Author
William Bridge Cooke
Mycologist (Retired)
Fungus Studies
Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center
Senior Research Associate
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Boca Raton London New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Cooke, William Bridge.
The ecology of the fungi.
Bibliography.
Includes index.
1. Fungi—Ecology. I. Title.
QK604.C637 589’.2’045 78-27812
ISBN 0-8493-5343-2
A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 78027812
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PREFACE
"Yet it should be remembered that if man does not control the chaos that he has
contrived and fails to direct the course of his destiny, if man, through unheeding em-
ployment to destructive ends of the tremendous, superhuman powers he has discovered
and developed, should finally destroy himself, then the fungi unhindered and unheed-
ing, will continue their many activities undisturbed and will remove the fragments of
man's failure, the debris of his disaster and destruction, the remains and the wreckage
of his recklessness until they obliterate all traces of man himself.'"222 Dr. W. H. Wes-
ton was speaking from personal experience with many kinds of fungi performing many
acts of deterioration, mostly of materials useful to man, and in use by man. Seventeen
years earlier, B. O. Dodge,322 a well-known mycologist, specialist in fungus genetics,
said: "The fungi, on the contrary, are progressive, ever changing and evolving rapidly
in their own way, so that they are capable of becoming adapted to every condition of
life. We may rest assured that as green plants and animals disappear one by one from
the face of the earth, some of the fungi will always be present to dispose of the last
remains."
William B. Cooke
THE AUTHOR
William Bridge Cooke, Ph. D., is a Senior Research Associate in the Department
of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, and was formerly
in charge of the Fungus Studies Laboratory, Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Cen-
ter, Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he has retired.
Dr. Cooke graduated in 1937 from the University of Cincinnati with a B. A. degree
in Botany. He obtained his M. S. in Mycology and Plant Pathology from Oregon State
University, and his Ph. D. degree in Botany from Washington State University with
emphasis on the ecology of the fungi.
Dr. Cooke is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
and the Ohio Academy of Science, and is a member of the Mycological Society of
America (Chairman of the Foray Committee), the American Institute of Biological
Sciences, the Botanical Society of America, the American Society for Plant Taxonomy,
the California Botanical Society, the British Mycological Society, the International
Society for Human and Animal Mycology, and the International Lichenological Soci-
ety. Dr. Cooke has received the Superior Service Award of the United States Public
Health Service and the Award for Excellence of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Administration, United States Department of the Interior, and was elected to member-
ship in the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society. He is Chairman of the Joint Task
Group for the 15th and 16th editions of Standard Methods for the Examination of
Water and Waste Water.
Dr. Cooke has published more than 175 papers on the taxonomy and ecology of
fungi, and the relation of fungi to water pollution. He has also published catalogues
of the flora and the fungi of Mount Shasta, and has listed the fungi of Lassen Volcanic
National Park.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The undertaking of a review of a subject as broad as The Ecology of the Fungi has
a number of pitfalls. A truism known to every researcher who tries to keep up with
the literature is that for every paper published or every book written, there is research
completed or in progress, known or unknown to the reader, which makes that paper
or book, no matter how apparently far out when spoken or written, out of date. In
addition, literature sources have proliferated to such an extent that it is not practical
to be acquainted with the contents of every issue of every journal, with every book
which may be related to one's subject area, or every journal the contents of which
should be familiar to him.
Without the help of correspondents who have sent the products of their research,
editors who have allowed us to review current literature, and librarians who have al-
lowed the perusal of literature in their care, much of the material in the following
pages could not have been studied.
At least two of the cited books may be out in revised editions by the time this man-
uscript is published. Subject matter presented in series in journals has been used in
part, which is not to say that the remaining parts should not have been used. Selection
of materials has been the responsibility of the author. Others may have made different
selections, used other emphases, or even deleted some of the subject areas considered
here. For these inclusions or lapses there may be no excuse, and none is offered.
Acknowledgment is made to the publishers and authors of books and papers from
which figures and tables used in the text were obtained. The libraries of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency Cincinnati Laboratories, the University of Cincinnati, the
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, the Lloyd Library, and the Kan-
anaskis Environmental Sciences Centre, were consulted and materials obtained from
each.
DEDICATION
To my wife, Vivian,
without whose help and forebearance
this book could not have been written
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Introduction 1
I. Historical 2
II. Classification and Taxonomy: Kingdom Fungi 3
III. Some Phylogenetic Implications 6
IV. Paleomycology 7
Chapter 2
Mycogeography 11
I. Introduction 11
II. Distribution Patterns 12
III. Mapping Schemes 14
IV. The Numbers of Fungi 17
Chapter 3
Genetics 19
I. Genetics, Sexuality, Variation 19
II. Terminology of Mating Systems 22
Chapter 4
Autecology and Synecology 25
I. Autecology 25
II. Synecology 26
III. Community Adjustments 32
Chapter 5
Physiology 35
I. Nutrient Requirements 35
II. Some Heavy Metal Relationships 37
III. Nutritional Groups of Soil Fungi 38
A. Based on Carbon Requirements 40
1. Sugar, Cellulose, Lignin, Humus, Hydrocarbons 40
B. Based on Nitrogen Requirements and Nutrition 40
IV. Effect of C to N Ratio on Fungus Growth 41
V. Oxygen Requirements 41
VI. Water Requirements 45
VII. Water in Fungus Spores 47
VIII. Certain Physical Factors in the Environment 47
A. Temperature 47
B. Pressure 48
C. Irradiation 48
D. Antibiotics and Inhibiting Substances 49
E. Biochemical Differentiation of Taxa 49
F. Serological Techniques 49
Chapter 6
The Organism 51
I. The Spore 51
A. Spore Dormancy 51
B. Spore Release 51
C. Spore Preservation and Longevity 53
D. Air Spora 53
E. Distribution in Soil 54
F. Survival After Freezing and Desiccation 54
G. Spore Dispersal 54
H. Dispersal in Water Habitats 55
I. Spore Size and Volume 56
J. Germination of the Spore 56
II. The Mycelium 58
A. Fine Structure of Cells 62
B. Translocation 63
C. Pigment Production 63
D. Melanin 64
E. Luminescence 64
F. Temperature Effects 64
G. Light 64
H. Amounts of Space Occupied 67
I. Nature of Food and Water Transporting Organs — Rhizomorphs ....67
J. Nature of Food Storage Organs — Sclerotia 68
III. The Fructification 69
A. Fruiting Habit 69
B. Adjusted Productivity 70
C. The Hypogaeous Fruiting Habit 71
D. Transpiration in Fleshy Fungi 71
E. Drought Resistance 71
F. Force 72
G. Size 72
H. Diurnalism and Day Length 72
I. Space Occupied 74
J. Types Produced 74
K. Spore Production 75
Chapter 7
Fungi in the Ecosystem 77
I. The Ecosystem (Including the Biocoenosis) 77
II. The Environmental Complex 77
III. The Concept "Environment" 78
IV. Fungi and Environmental Extremes 78
V. Fungal Adjustment to the Environment 78
VI. Temperature Adjustments 79
VII. Fairy Rings and Clans 79
VIII. Spore Slimes 80
IX. Osmophily 80
X. Saline Soil 81
XI. Mutualism and Antagonism in Forest Soils 81
XII. Pesticide Effects 81
XIII. Effect of or on Chemicals 82
Chapter 8
Total Ecosystem Vs. Individual Segments 85
I. Introduction 85
II. Yeasts 85
Chapter 9
Population Groups — Soil 93
I. Introduction 93
II. Decomposition of Organic Matter in Soils 96
III. Sand Dune Soils 96
IV. Soil Profile Studies 97
V. Mull and Mor Soils 97
VI. Forest Soils 98
VII. Coastal Grassland Soils 99
VIII. Agricultural Soils 100
IX. Northern, Arctic, and Antarctic Soils 100
X. Soil-Borne Plant Decomposition 104
XI. Plant Residue Decomposition 104
XII. Soil Pezizales 105
XIII. Pesticides in Soils 105
XIV. Useful Materials and Inhibitors 105
A. Cellophane 105
B. Chitin 106
C. Tannin 106
D. Copper 107
E. Serpentine Soils 107
XV. The Ecopedon 107
XVI. A Decomposition Model 107
XVII. Some General Considerations 108
Chapter 10
Population Groups — Litter 109
I. Introduction 109
II. Wood Litter 109
III. Forest Leaf Litter 110
IV. Broad-Leaved Litter Ill
V. Root Litter 116
VI. Colonization of Dead Grass Culms 116
VII. Tundra Studies 118
VIII. The Use of Linear Regression Models 119
IX. Calcium Oxalate 119
X. Phylloplane, Phyllosphere, and Litter Surveys 120
XI. Burned Areas 120
XII. Ambrosia and Fras Fungi 121
XIII. Humus 121
XIV. Deterioration of Commodities 122
XV. Solid Wastes and Composting 126
XVI. Ensilage 127
XVII. Dung 128
Chapter 11
Population Groups — Water 129
I. Fresh Water Fungi 129
II. Marine Fungi 133
III. Sewage and Polluted Waters 135
A. Sewage Fungus 137