Influence of litterbags on growth of fungal vegetative structures.

This study reports a test of the hypothesis that mesh litter bags restrict access of vegetative fungal structures to confined substrate. Unconfined birchwood swab sticks lost more dry weight during a field incubation than confined ones. Samples in fine mesh bags lost more weight than those in coarse mesh bags. Significantly higher numbers of mycelial strands and rhizomorphs were found on unconfined samples. The number of fungal structures was significantly correlated with weight loss of individual samples. It is suggested that the inhibitory effect is most significant in environments where higher fungi are the dominant decomposing organisms.