Expansion Process of ‘Shiro’ of Tricholoma matsutake at the Kyotamba-cho Test Site

Abstract

We performed an environmental control operation in a 1-ha Tricholoma matsutake test site established in Kyotamba Town, Kyoto Prefecture. We aimed to improve matsutake mushroom generation and spread through vegetation management. The study was conducted in a 25-year-old natural Japanese Red Pine forest and spanned 35 years, from 1963 to 1998. During that time, we investigated the distribution of the fungal colony of T. matsutake, along with the generation and dispersal of its sporocarps. By 1964, 12 fungal colonies were confirmed, and they were concentrated on the ridgeline and its periphery. Subsequently, fungal colonies began to form from the upper part to the middle part of the hillside. The fungal colonies continued to form on the lower part of the hillside, and all nine fungal colonies formed between 1983 and 1988 formed in the mid-to-lower part of the hillside. New fungal colonies often formed below the slope of the existing fungal colonies; therefore, it appears to be effective to carry out the environmental control operation below the slope of the existing fungal colonies to improve T. matsutake generation.