The Center for Forest Mycology Research (CFMR) at the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, WI is one of the few remaining mycological research labs left in the USDA-Forest Service. Traditionally established to study the taxonomy of pathogenic root rot, sap-rot, and heart-rot fungi, the group has changed its focus in recent years towards the biosystematics and ecology of both pathogenic and sa...

INTRODUCTION. THE somewhat arbitrary classification of the wood decays caused by fungi into " brown " and " white " rots has in recent years been the subject of controversy, as it has been suggested that more accurate classification can be based on strictly chemical evidence regarding the effects of the various wood-rotting fungi on wood substance. So far as "brown" rots are concerned a suffici...

1. Priority effects have been hypothesized to have long-lasting impact on community structure in natural ecosystems. Long-term studies of priority effects in natural ecosystems are however sparse, especially in terrestrial ecosystems. 2. Wood decay is a slow process involving a high diversity of insect and fungus species. Species interactions that drive change in communities of insects and fung...

With an evolving political environment of commitments to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, and of markets to trade in emissions permits, there is growing scientific, political, and economic need to accurately evaluate carbon (C) stocks and flows—especially those related to human activities. One component of the global carbon cycle that has been contentious is the stock of carbon that is phys...

Acetylation of wood imparts moisture durability, decay resistance, and dimensional stability to wood; however, making durable adhesive bonds with acetylated wood can be more difficult than with unmodified wood. The usual explanation is that the acetylated surface has fewer hydroxyl groups, resulting in a harder-to-wet surface and in fewer hydrogen bonds between wood and adhesive. This concept w...

Interest in understanding how brown-rot fungi degrade wood chas received increasing attention in recent years because of a need to identify novel targets that can be inhibited for the next generation of antifungal wood preservatives. Brown-rot fungi are unique in that they can degrade holocellulose (cellulose and hemicellulose) in wood without first removing the lignin, Furthermore, they degrad...

this research was conducted to study the effects of styrene and methyl methacrylate cell lumen monomers on the mechanical properties and decay resistance of beech wood. mechanical and decay resistance test samples were prepared according to astm d143-94 and din en113 standards and impregnated with five concentration monomer solution 0, 40, 60, 80 and 100 percent using bethell method. treated sa...

Review of the state-of-the-art on fungal damage of wood materials showed that a combination of period of cumulative time when moisture and thermal regimes are above specified minimum is needed for fungal activities to cause biological decay in wood. The long-term performance of a typical wall assembly was evaluated using an existing computer model of heat, moisture, and air transfer in conjunct...

This study investigated the chemical composition, and antimicrobial and anti-wood-decay fungal activities of the essential oil isolated from the leaf of endemic Machilus zuihoensis Hayata, Lauraceae, of Taiwan. The essential oil from the fresh leaves of M. zuihoensis was isolated using hydrodistillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus, and characterized by GC-FID and GC-MS. A total of 104 compoun...

Wood-decaying Basidiomycetes are among the most efficient degraders of plant cell walls, making them key players in forest ecosystems, global carbon cycle, and bio-based industries. Recent insights from -omics data revealed a high functional diversity wood-decay strategies, especially traditional white-rot brown-rot dichotomy. We examined mechanistic bases conifer-specialists Armillaria ostoyae...