Diversity and Distribution of Wood Decay Fungi in Korea

Wood decay fungi were collected in 47 different locations in eight provinces of South Korea from 2011 to 2013. One thousand and five hundreds three fruiting bodies of wood-decay fungi were collected, identified, and classified into 2 phyla, 7 classes, 19 orders, 56 families, 159 genera and 365 species. The most dominant genus and species found were Trametes and T. versicolor. The highest species diversity was found in broad-leaved forest (273 species), and was also found at elevations of 500-1,000 m (227 species). A total of 333 species were collected from broad-leaved trees, 87 species from coniferous trees, and 55 species were collected from both forest types. Gymnopilus liquiritiae was the most dominant species in coniferous trees, while T. versicolor, which was mostly collected from tree trunks below 500 m in elevation, was dominant in broad-leaved trees. Results from the quantitative cluster analysis of wood decay fungi showed that the highest species diversity index was 1.80 in the mixed forests, while the highest similarity among forest types was shown between the broad-leaved and mixed forests.