Identification and comparison of the diversity of xylophagous fungi in forests and sawmills in the central jungle, Peru

Xylophagous fungi have economic implications because they cause wood losses in commercial woodlands (CW) and sawmills, as they cause diseases in standing trees and decompose roundwood and sawnwood, respectively. The objective of the study was to identify and compare the diversity of xylophagous fungi in commercial woodlands (CW) and sawmills in the districts of San Martín de Pangoa, Río Negro, Mazamari, and Satipo (Satipo province, central jungle), Peru. Identification was based on the macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of the fungi; in addition, the Simpson (λ), Gini-Simpson (H_GS), Shannon-Wiener (H’), Pielou (J), Margalef (DMg) diversity indices and Sorenson’s similarity coefficient (Cs) were used. The results show that 29 species of xylophagous fungi were identified, covering 11 family groups and 17 different genera, with Auricularia fuscosuccinea and Schizophyllum commune standing out in the two types of environments analyzed. The wooded areas used for timber production showed greater abundance and variety (Shannon-Wiener: 1.86–2.39; Margalef: 2.43–3.11) when compared to the sawmill sites, where variety was more limited, with a few resistant species dominating. However, the similarity between communities was high (Cs = 0.95), indicating that sawmills maintain a significant fraction of the fungal reservoir of forests, favoring the persistence of species with a high degradative impact on wood. These results show that, even though diversity is reduced in sawmills, the fungi that persist pose a considerable economic threat and highlight the importance of taking their lifestyle into account when managing forests and implementing methods to protect wood.