Prescribed burning reduces species richness of wood-decay fungi in the forests of northwest Arkansas

The present study, which was carried out at three localities in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, investigated the effects of prescribed burning on wood-decomposing fungi using samples of decaying woody debris (DWD) placed in plastic incubation chambers. One of the localities had not been subjected to recent prescribed burning, whereas the other localities contained both an unburned area as well as an area recently subjected to burning. In all three localities, small pieces of decaying woody debris (DWD) were collected, placed in the incubation chambers and the latter kept moist for any extended period of time. Pieces of DWD collected in the areas subjected to burning typically displayed evidence of considerable charring. Fruiting bodies appearing in the incubation chambers were removed and identified by sequencing of ribosomal DNA region. A total of 101 specimens representing 80 different taxa were recorded in the entire investigation, but the numbers of both specimens and taxa were appreciably higher for the unburned collecting sites. As such, the data obtained indicate that prescribed burning lowers the species richness of the wood-decomposing fungi associated with DWD at a particular locality. The unique aspect of the present study was the use of incubation chambers to characterize the taxa of fungi associated with CWD.     

Assessing the potential of foamed clay as a biological aerated filter (BAF) medium

Materials used previously as biological aerated filter (BAF) media have not combined optimal biofilm supporting properties with optimal wear characteristics. Increasing its bentonite content decreased the attrition rate and friability of foamed clay. Although the altered medium exhibited less surface roughness, results from small-scale reactors confirmed that it had maintained its biological attributes. This suggests that surface roughness has a limited influence on biofilm formation.