Interactions among wood-decay fungi can have a profound effect on fungal community composition, decay rates and ultimately the chemical composition of the material remaining after the decay process. Interspecific interactions among fungi as they decay wood have been well-studied but almost nothing is known about the effect of intraspecific interactions between individual genets on the decay process. In this study we examine the effect of both intra- and interspecific competition on wood mass-loss for five species of wood-decay fungi: Cerrena unicolor, Fuscoporia gilva, Irpex lacteus, Stereum ostrea and Trametes versicolor. Four of the five species studied showed a significant increase in mass loss when five individual isolates (genets) of the same species simultaneously colonized aspen test wafers in vitro. The dynamics of interspecific interactions were also significantly impacted by the presence of multiple genets of each species. Taken together, these results demonstrate that intraspecific interactions can change the outcome of interspecific interactions and thus the functioning of the overall community.

木材腐烂真菌之间的相互作用会对真菌群落组成、腐烂速率以及最终腐烂过程后剩余材料的化学成分产生深远的影响。真菌在腐烂木材时的种间相互作用已得到充分研究，但对于个体基因之间的种内相互作用对腐烂过程的影响几乎一无所知。在这项研究中，我们研究了五种木材腐烂真菌的种内和种间竞争对木材质量损失的影响：Cerrena unicolor、Fuscoporia gilva、Irpex milkteus、Stereum ostrea 和Trametes versicolor。当同一物种的五个单独分离株（基因）同时在体外定植白杨测试晶片时，所研究的五个物种中的四个显示出质量损失显着增加。种间相互作用的动态也受到每个物种多个基因的存在的显着影响。总而言之，这些结果表明，种内相互作用可以改变种间相互作用的结果，从而改变整个群落的功能。