Pine Mushrooms Require Mature Forests

Forests must at least be over 85 years old for the commercially-valuable pine mushrooms to emerge in northwest British Columbia's Kispiox Valley.

This and 11 other ectomycorrhizal mushroom species were only found in mature stands of the Interior Cedar-Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone, moist-cold variant.

Overall, researchers identified 128 ectomycorrhizal species occurring above ground on 12 study sites spanning a full range of forest ages. Pole stands of less than 40 years contained 40 species in abundance, while mid-seral stands acquired 30 additional well-established species.

As succession progresses, these forests accumulate, rather than replace, ectomycorrhizal fungi species, particularly 20 to 120 years after establishing.