Contents Tables ............................................................................................................................ 4 中文摘要........................................................................................................................ 9 Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 11 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 13 References .................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 1 – Effects of forest thinning on diversity and function of macrofungi and soil fungi ................................................................................................................... 24 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 24 Materials and Methods ......................................................................................... 25 Research site ................................................................................................ 25 Collection, identification and documentation of macrofungi ...................... 26 Soil sampling ............................................................................................... 26 DNA extraction and PCR amplification from soil samples ......................... 26 DGGE analysis............................................................................................. 27 Biolog assay ................................................................................................. 28 Data analysis ................................................................................................ 28 Results .................................................................................................................. 28 Macrofungal communities and diversity ..................................................... 28 DGGE analysis of fungal and bacterial communities from soil samples .... 30 Biolog assay with soil samples .................................................................... 31 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 31 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. 33 References ............................................................................................................ 34 Chapter 2 – The impacts of thinning on the fruiting of saprophytic fungi in Cryptomeria japonica plantations in central Taiwan ......................................... 42 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 42 Materials and Methods ......................................................................................... 44 Study site ...................................................................................................... 44 Experimental design..................................................................................... 44 Collection, identification and documentation of macrofungal species ........ 45 Monitoring of environmental factors ........................................................... 46 Data analysis ................................................................................................ 47 Results .................................................................................................................. 48 Macrofungal diversity .................................................................................. 48 Functional groups of macrofungi ................................................................. 50 Thinning influenced macrofungal community and environments ............... 51 Comparison of macrofungal species composition between investigated periods and aspects ............................................................................... 52 Environments influenced fruiting patterns of widespread species .............. 53 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 54 Acknowledgments................................................................................................ 58 References ............................................................................................................ 59 Chapter 3 – Responses of soil fungal populations and communities to the thinning of Cryptomeria japonica forests ............................................................................ 81 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 81 Materials and Methods ......................................................................................... 84 Study site ...................................................................................................... 84 Soil sampling ............................................................................................... 85 Abundance of fungal populations ................................................................ 86 DNA extraction and amplification ............................................................... 86 DGGE analysis............................................................................................. 87 Data analysis ................................................................................................ 87 Results .................................................................................................................. 89 Populations of soil fungi .............................................................................. 89 Community compositions of soil fungi........................................................ 90 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 91 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. 96 References ............................................................................................................ 97 Chapter 4 – A new species of Scytinopogon from Taiwan ......................................... 116 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 116 Materials and methods ....................................................................................... 117 Morphological study .................................................................................. 117 Molecular procedures and phylogenetic analysis ...................................... 117 Results ........................................................................................................ 119 Taxonomy .................................................................................................. 119 Molecular phylogeny ................................................................................. 120 Discussion .......................................................................................................... 121 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ 123 References .......................................................................................................... 123 Chapter 5 –Population genetic structure of a fluctuating population of a short lifespan and small genet macrofungus .......................................................................... 132 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 132 Materials and Methods ....................................................................................... 133 Study site and collection samples .............................................................. 133 DNA Extraction and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA.................... 134 Data analysis .............................................................................................. 135 Results ................................................................................................................ 136 Population fluctuations of S. cryptomerioides ........................................... 136 Genetic diversity ........................................................................................ 136 Genetic differentiation among years .......................................................... 137 The temporal and spacial distributions of S. cryptomerioides genets ........ 137 2 Cluster analysis .......................................................................................... 138 Discussion .......................................................................................................... 139 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 141 Acknowledgments.............................................................................................. 142 References .......................................................................................................... 142 Chapter 6 – Xylariaceous fungi were endophytic in coralloid basidiocarps? ............ 152 Introduction .......................................................................................................