%0 Research article
%T Relationships between wood-inhabiting fungal species richness and habitat variables in old-growth forest stands in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, northern boreal Finland
%A Ylläsjärvi, Inari
%A Berglund, Håkan
%A Kuuluvainen, Timo
%D 2011
%J Silva Fennica
%V 45
%N 5
%R doi:10.14214/sf.83
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/83
%X Indicators for biodiversity are needed for efficient prioritization of  forests selected for conservation. We analyzed the relationships between  86 wood-inhabiting fungal (polypore) species richness and 35 habitat  variables in 81 northern boreal old-growth forest stands in Finland.  Species richness and the number of red-listed species were analyzed  separately using generalized linear models. Most species were infrequent  in the studied landscape and no species was encountered in all stands.  The species richness increased with 1) the volume of coarse woody debris  (CWD), 2) the mean DBH of CWD and 3) the basal area of living trees.  The number of red-listed species increased along the same gradients, but  the effect of basal area was not significant. Polypore species richness  was significantly lower on western slopes than on flat topography. On  average, species richness was higher on northern and eastern slopes than  on western and southern slopes. The results suggest that a combination  of habitat variables used as indicators may be useful in selecting  forest stands to be set aside for polypore species conservation.