The effect of temperature on growth of interior colonizers of decaying pine needles

Abstract

Interior colonizers of fallen pine needles vary with seasons of the needle fall at Sugadaira, Nagano Pref., central Japan. The change of dominant interior colonizers was considered from the effect of temperature on hyphal growth rate of the interior colonizers. Verticicladium trifidum and Chaetopsina fulva that are dominant fungi in the needles fallen at summer and autumn showed optimal growth at higher temperature, whereas Selenosporella curvispora, a dominant fungus in the needles fallen in cool and cold seasons, showed optimal growth at lower temperature. The change of interior colonizer partly reflects the difference of growth characteristics among those fungal species.