Fungal diversity on submerged wood in a tropical stream and an artificial lake

Two collections of submerged wood were made from the Mushroom Research Centre in northern Thailand. One collection comprising 100 samples was made from an artificial lake, which had been made by damming a stream running through a secondary forest. The other collection comprising 90 samples was made from an adjacent non dammed shallow stream running through a similar forest. A total of 68 fungal taxa were recorded during the study and the Shannon-Weiner index (H') was applied to evaluate the diversities of freshwater fungi. Sorensen's index (S') was calculated to evaluate the similarity of different fungal communities. The variation of freshwater fungi on submerged wood between lentic and lotic habitat is discussed and compared with previous studies. A dramatic decrease in species richness and diversity, with significantly changed species composition were observed in the artificial lake as compared to the non dammed stream.