FUNGAL ECOLOGY
(sometimes with special regard to macromycetes)
Fungi and their environment • Life strategies and interactions of fungi • Ecological groups of
fungi, saprotrophs (terrestrial fungi, litter and plant debris, wood substrate, etc.) • Fungal
symbioses (ectomycorrhiza, endomycorrhiza, endophytism, lichenism, bacteria, animal relationships)
• Parasitism (parasites of animals and fungi, phytopathogenic fungi, types of parasitic relations)
• Fungi in various habitats (coniferous forests, broadleaf forests, birch stands and non-forest
habitats, fungal communities)
• Fungal dispersal and distribution • Threat and protection of fungi
(the study material has not been corrected by native speaker)
PF_72_100_grey_tr ubz_cz_black_transparent
MASARYK UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY

Note: A more accurate expression would probably be mixed stands with a predominance of birch,
evolved by the invasion of heliophilous birch on treeless sites (clearings, abandoned pastures).
34_bet__cortinarius_armillatus 34_bet__tricholoma_fulvum 34_bet__piptoporus_betulinus
Birch stands:
Cortinarius armillatus, Tricholoma fulvum
– mycorrhizal species;
Piptoporus betulinus
– saproparasite on wood of trunks and branches.

Birch stands: Lactarius torminosus, Lactarius pubescens, Leccinum scabrum, Leccinum versipelle. All
mycorrhizal species.
34_bet__lactarius_pubescens 34_bet__lactarius_torminosus 34_bet__leccinum_scabrum
Photo Dan Dvořák

36_bet_turf_russula_claroflava 36_bet_turf_leccinum_niveum
Birch stands on peat soil:
Russula claroflava, Leccinum holopus, Leccinum variicolor.
All mycorrhizal species.
Photo Dan Dvořák

Treeless raised bogs and transition mires – mainly bryophilous and sphagnophilous parasites and
saprotrophs: Galerina paludosa, Hypholoma elongatum, Lyophyllum palustre, Arrhenia sphagnicola.
Photo Dan Dvořák (4x)

Mycena typhae, Psathyrella typhae, Epithele typhae, Marasmius limosus
Reed beds and high sedge stands:
Photo
Dan Dvořák
(2x left),
Josef Hlásek
(2x right)

Alpine treeless vegetation: In the Czech Republic it is represented almost exclusively by
arcto-alpine tundra (mainly in the Giant Mts. = Krkonoše) – several typical (mostly rare) species
are presented here: Entoloma alpicolum – mykorrhizal symbiont of willows; E. fuscotomentosum,
Ramariopsis subarctica, Chromosera lilacina (syn. Hygrocybe l.) – humus saprotrophs.

Wet meadows and grasslands: Hygrocybe coccinea, Hygrocybe miniata, Gliophorus psittacinus (syn.
Hygrocybe psittacina), Entoloma porphyrophaeum. All humus-decomposing saprotrophs.
40_open_hum_hygrocybe_coccinea 40_open_hum_hygrocybe_miniata 40_open_hum_hygrocybe_psittacina
40_open_gram_entoloma_porphyrophaeum

Pastures and meadows (middle water-saturated, from lowlands to mountains):
Marasmius oreades, Agaricus crocodillinus (syn. A. urinascens, A. macrosporus), Leucoagaricus
leucothites, Stropharia coronilla. All humus-decomposing saprotrophs.
40_open_gram_agaricus_macrosporus 40_open_gram_leucoagaricus_leucothites
40_open_gram_stropharia_coronilla 40_open_gram_marasmius_oreades

Pastures and meadows: Coprinus comatus, Melanoleuca brevipes, Lepista saeva.
All humus-decomposing saprotrophs.
40_open_gram_melanoleuca_brevipes 40_open_gram_lepista_saeva
Photo Dan Dvořák

Ruderal habitats:
Agrocybe praecox –
humus-decomposing saprotroph;
strongly eutrophic sites:
Panaeolina foenisecii –
litter-decomposing saprotroph;
open sites under rosaceous trees or shrubs: Entoloma clypeatum – mycorrhizal species.
40_open_hnoj_panaeolina_foenisecii 40_open_ros_entoloma_clypeatum
Photo Dan Dvořák

Slope and rock steppes
(on acidic and base-rich substrates):
Pleurotus eryngii, Polyporus rhizophilus
– saproparasites on basal parts of herbs;
Tulostoma brumale – humus-decomposing saprotroph, growing on calcareous bedrock.
40_open_calc_tulostoma_brumale 40_open_step_pleurotus_eryngii 40_open_step_polyporus_rhizophilus

40_open_rob_phallus_hadriani
Grasslands on sandy soil host psammophilous species: Geopora arenosa;
grasslands on xerothermic base-rich habitats: Geastrum floriforme;
grasslands under black locust: Phallus hadriani. All humus-decomposing saprotrophs.
40_open_sand_geopora_arenosa 40_open_sand-baz-xerot_geastrum_floriforme