Addressing the plenary session, Director of the Forest Research Institute KarRC RAS Alexander Kryshen told that the three areas – forest regeneration, forest protection, and mycology – have been developed at the institute in an integrated and continuous manner. In the 1960s-1980s, a balance was maintained between basic and applied studies. In the 1990s, the focus was shifted to biodiversity studies.
– Research into biodiversity, including that of fungal and lichen biota, in Northwest Russia remains in the mainstream and is continued at the Laboratory for Landscape Ecology and Forest Ecosystem Protection of the Forest Research Institute. These studies are essential for nature conservation. A research area maintained at the institute is the mycosymbiotrophy [symbiosis between higher plants and fungi] of the main forest tree species, its role in promoting forest regeneration and productivity. Such studies are done at the Laboratory of Boreal Forest Dynamics and Productivity, – Alexander Kryshen reported.
He remarked on a growing interest in forest pathology issues, which may be associated with climate change. Every year, the institute receives a growing number of requests from authorities, organizations and citizens to carry out phytopathology surveys of forest and urban vegetation areas.
– Mycology, forest pathology, biodiversity are permeating all major activity areas of the Forest Research Institute: from soil studies to forest ecosystem structure and dynamics, – Director added.
Biodiversity studies are promoted by novelties in equipment and methods, which also help attract the youth into science.
On behalf of the RAS Institute of Forest Science the participants were greeted by Vladimir Storozhenko, Chief Researcher at the Sylviculture and Biological Productivity Laboratory. His talk focused on the role of wood-decay fungi in biomass balance formation and stability of forest communities.
– Northern forests, although shrinking, are refugia of evolution-shaped virgin forest, where the balance of the plant community biomass has been maintained over millennia. This balance is of immense importance. It is a precondition for forest stability. Hence, basic research into the functions and organisms that maintain this balance over time is essential. A crucial structural element of forest communities responsible for the formation of forests steadily functioning in the long term is the set of wood-decay fungi, – the scientist said to explain the relevance of the subject.
During three days of thematic sessions, scientists discussed the problems of forest phytopathology, the taxonomy, biology and ecology of lichen species and complexes, the distribution patterns of fungi in forests and non-forest objects, the role of fungi in destruction processes and forest structure formation. Offline and online presentations were made by over 50 researchers from Russia and neighboring countries.
– There are not so many mycologists in Russia so the number of participants is rather limited. The gathering in Petrozavodsk is attended by colleagues from Yekaterinburg, Moscow and other Russian cities, as well as a large delegation from Belarus, online presentations were made by colleagues from Perm, Sochi, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Gomel and other cities – said Olga Predtechenskaya, Senior Researcher at the Laboratory for Landscape Ecology and Forest Ecosystem Protection of the Forest Research Institute KarRC RAS.
The International Conference “Problems of Forest Phytopathology and Mycology” is one of the oldest in Russia. It is held once in three or four years and, apart from Petrozavodsk, has been hosted by Moscow, Perm, Ulyanovsk, Minsk (Belarus), Kaunas (Lithuania). The conference this year is the 11th in the series.
The initiative to organize “Problems of Forest Phytopathology and Mycology” conferences appeared in the 1980s in connection with the coordinating activities of the RAS Scientific Council on Forest on the topic “Scientific footing for the formation of forest community resistance to fungal diseases”. Since the 1980s, the conference has been a major platform for discussing the most pressing and topical problems related to natural ecosystem stability and functioning and the role of fungi and fungi-like organisms in these processes.
– Forest Research Institute KarRC RAS is doing profound research in mycology. Fungi in our cold climate are the principal organic matter destructors, – Olga Predtechenskaya added.
In particular, the role of wood-decay fungi in decomposing downed deadwood was the topic of the presentation made by Researcher at the Laboratory of Boreal Forest Dynamics and Productivity FRI KarRC RAS Ivan Romashkin at a thematic session on October 13th. He explained that fungi can store substantial amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients. This strategy promotes the growth of the fungal biomass, accelerates the wood decomposition rate, and creates favorable conditions for other, more demanding species. “This is an important aspect of biodiversity conservation and, hence, boreal forest stability”, – the scientist emphasized.
The conference program was not limited to sessions. The guests visited the Museum of Applied Environmental Research recently opened at KarRC RAS. The extramural session on October 12th took place at KarRC RAS Arboretum. It included an excursion and planting of a conifer plot to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Forest Research Institute KarRC RAS. In the ornamental section of the arboretum, scientists planted cedar, larch, fir, and arborvitae seedlings. The next day, Forest Research Institute’s Secretary for Science Nadezhda Nikolaeva introduced the participants to the Abnormal Wood Collection. The final event of the visit to Karelia for the guests on October 14th was a trip to the Ruskeala Mining Park.
The conference proceedings were published in the volume “Problems of Forest Phytopathology and Mycology” and are available (in Russian) via the link.
Photos: Scientific Communication Service KarRC RAS, Forest Research Institute KarRC RAS
