The ecology and diversity of the macrofungal species assemblages associated with woody
material in four plots with differing wildfire histories in a Tasmanian tall, wet, native
Eucalyptus obliqua forest were investigated. The four woody substrata (CWD, other dead
wood ODW, stags and living trees) supported substantially different macrofungal
assemblages, although there was some degree of overlap between CWD and ODW. The
best separation between assemblages occurring on all kinds of wood, or on individual
pieces of CWD, was obtained when the 100 10 10 m subplots of the study were grouped
into classes based on the most frequently occurring higher vascular plant species within
each subplot. Three polypore species were identified as being possible indicators of biodiverse
old E. obliqua forests. The sustainable management of these forests will require
retaining dead wood of all sizes, species and decay stages to maintain wood-inhabiting
fungal diversity.