Bark and ambrosia beetles inoculate dying trees with symbiotic fungi. The effects of these fungi on wood decomposition are poorly understood. We determined the effects of three widespread Ascomycota symbionts and one introduced Basidiomycota symbiont on the decomposition of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) sapwood. Ascomycetes caused <5% mass loss and no visible structural degradation, whereas the basidiomycete Flavodon ambrosius caused nearly 15% mass loss and visible structural degradation similar to free-living wood-decay fungi. Ophiostoma ips and Raffaelea fusca reduced white- and brown-rot decay through competition with Ganoderma curtisii and Phaeolus schweinitzii, respectively. The inhibitory effects of O. ips and R. fusca on decay were negated when co-inoculated with F. ambrosius suggesting that the spread of this invader could influence forest carbon cycles. In contrast to the predominant forest biology narrative, the common and widespread ophiostomatalean symbionts of bark and ambrosia beetles studied here appear to delay, rather than facilitate tree biomass recycling.

树皮和失落的甲虫用共生真菌接种垂死的树木。这些真菌对木材分解的影响知之甚少。我们确定了三个广泛的子囊菌共生体的影响，一个在火炬松（分解推出担子菌共生火炬松）边材。子囊菌引起<5％的质量损失并且没有可见的结构降解，而担子菌黄细菌引起的近15％的质量损失和可见的结构降解，类似于自由活木腐烂真菌。Ophiostoma ips和Raffaelea fusca通过与灵芝和Phaeolus schweinitzii竞争而减少了白腐烂和褐腐烂，分别。当与安布罗希氏菌共同接种时，O。ips和R. fusca对腐烂的抑制作用被抵消，表明该入侵者的扩散可能影响森林的碳循环。与主要的森林生物学叙述相反，这里研究的树皮和失落的甲虫的常见和广泛的ophiostomatalean共生体似乎延迟了，而不是促进了树木生物量的再循环。