ABSTRACT
Some problems of the substrate ecology of wood-inhabiting basidiomycetes are considered in this chapter. The considered group of organisms has a unique apparatus for the utilization of lign-fied parts of woody plants and is also capable of hydrolysis and oxidation of plant cell polysac-charides. The definition of the group is given and a review of its biodiversity from the highest ranks to the generic level is carried out. The fundamentals of wood decay processes are consid-ered and, in addition to the well-known white and brown rot, attention is drawn to the little-studied phenomenon of ancestral “soft” rot. The trophic differentiation of the group is reviewed and topical groups of tree-dwelling basidiomycetes are also considered. A detailed review of tree-dwelling basidiomycete species on the key tree species of the planet is carried out. Ap-proaches to the study of the group on such an interesting substrate as tree vines are outlined. The problems of trophic plasticity and the width of the trophic niche of various species, the influence of the state of the substrate on the specificity of the species composition and the processes of formation of groups on allied trees species (e.g., Siberian city of Tyumen), microsuccessions of fungal groups on decaying wood are considered. Some issues of the distribution of representa-tives of Polyporaceae are also touched upon.
