Mycorrhizas of temperate forests

Ectomycorrhizas for sustainable forests

We became involved in programs for sustainable forestry favouring beech instead of Norway spruce for future plantings. We showed that beech seedlings inoculated by Paxillus involutus in the nursery are far more resistant to water stress, frost and damage by deer [46, 21] and become faster colonized by native fungi and thus faster adapted to the planting area than non inoculated plants [38].

Three groups of beech (Fagus sylvatica) plants inoculated by two different strains of Paxillus involutus (left and right) or not inoculated (middle) collected after 6 months in the field. Survival and growth rate differences were statistically significant. Photo: I. Kottke.

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Mycorrhiza-like associations of liverworts

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