"Wood and Tree Fungi" provides an up-to-date overview of the various wood and tree fungi that damage trees, lumber, and timber, with special focus given to identification, prevention, and remediation techniques.

First, the fundamentals of cytology and morphology, growth and reproduction, formal genetics, and enzymatic wood decay are addressed. Causative factors are then analyzed, followed by descriptions of interactions like antagonism, succession, and mycorrhiza.

The more practical section describes damages by viruses on trees and by bacteria on the xylem of trees and on structural timber, wood discoloration caused by molds and stain fungi, wood decays by rot fungi, and preservation methods. The habitats of wood fungi are described as well as tree care. Important tree pathogens and wood decay fungi are characterized for prevention and identification.

The final section focuses on the positive effects of wood-inhabiting microorganisms, covering past and classical methods like myco-wood, mushroom cultivation, biological pulping, and "palo podrido", as well as recent biotechnological processes.

Zusammenfassung
Wood, as a raw material and a renewable biomass, has had great importance for thousands of years. Under suitable conditions, however, it is also easily degradable as part of the biological cycle. The processes of decomposition by fungi, and measures for protection against them, have been studied for quite a long time. The resulting knowledge on the causes and effects of wood degradation can hardly be overlooked. Formorethan30years,OlafSchmidthasinvestigatedthecausesandeffects ofwooddegradationbyfungiandbacteria.Pioneeringcontributionshavealso been made in several ?elds, such as wood-inhabiting bacteria and molecular methodsforfungalidenti?cation.Laboratoryworkisaccompaniedbyteaching the ?eld of wood deterioration by microorganisms, thus contributing to the broad spectrumof information accumulated. WoodandTreeFungibyOlafSchmidtpresentsthemostcomprehensive treatise on the fundamentals, causes, and consequences of decomposition of wood as well as measures for its prevention. The 1,400 references give an overlookofthevastamountofinformationevaluated.Foralongtimetocome this book will be the competent source of knowledge about the fascinating interactionsbetweenwoodand microorganisms. Walter Liese Preface ThisbookistheupdatedrevisionoftheGermaneditionHolz-undBaumpilze from 1994. Errors were corrected and new results were included. Particularly the chapter Identi?cation was supplemented by molecular techniques. I - alize that a one-author book on a relatively broad topic must include errors andalsomayhaveignoredrecentliterature.Strictlyspeaking,oneshouldonly write about things that they have experienced themselves, in the case of point thisonlyconcernssomeaspectsof bacteriaand thosefungiwhichinhabit the xylem of dead wood. Thus, current secondary literature was used for those chaptersthat are on theedge of myownresearch interest. For better readability, the authors of fungal names are not mentioned in thetext,butsummarizedinanappendix.Fungalsynonymsarealsonotgiven. These are available from Index Fungorum (www.indexfungorum.org/names/ names.asp).Fungalnamescitedfrom(older)publicationsweretransferredto thecurrent version.

Inhalt

Introduction.- Biology. Cytology and Morphology. Growth and Spreading. Sexuality Identification. Classification.- Physiology. Nutrients. Air. Wood Moisture. Temperature. pH Value and Acid Production. Light and Force of Gravity. Restrictions of Physiological Data. Competition and Interactions Between Organisms.- Wood Degradation. Enzymes and Low Molecular Agents. Pectin Degradation. Degradation of Hemicelluloses. Cellulose Degradation. Lignin Degradation.- Damage by Viruses and Bacteria. Viruses. Bacteria.- Wood Discoloration. Molding. Blue Stain. Red Streaking. Protection.- Wood Rot. Brown Rot. White Rot. Soft Rot. Protection.- Habitat of Wood Fungi. Fungal Damage to Living Trees. Tree Wounds and Tree Care. Tree Rots by Macrofungi. Damage to Stored Wood and Structural Timber Outdoors. Damage to Structural Timber Indoors.- Positive Effects of Wood-inhabiting Microorganisms. 'Myco-Wood'. Cultivation of Edible Mushrooms. Biological Pulping. 'Palo Podrido' and 'Myco-Fodder'. Wood Saccharification and Sulphite Pulping. Grinding and Steam Explosion. Recent Biotechnological Processes with Lignocelluloses and Outlook.- Appendix. Key for Strand-Forming House-Rot Fungi. Fungi Mentioned in this Book.