The Microflora 275 



Meadows 



Basins 



o 

 £ 

 o 



CD 





I - 



Depth 

 (0)6 fo7cm 



AAa^ 



Troughs 



Jun Jul I Aug [ Sep Jun[ Jul | Aug [ Sep Jun I Jul I Aug I Sep 



Tops 



Aug Sep Jun 



FIGURE 8-7. The seasonal progression of fungal biomass at two 

 soil depths, 1973. The values are the means of three to five replicate 

 plots. (After Laursen 1975.) 



Seasonal courses of fungi in the litter layer show somewhat more 

 consistency in pattern than is apparent in standing dead vegetation (Fig- 

 ure 8-6), but the variation among microtopographic units remains large. 

 Generally, the pattern is more akin to that observed for fungi in the soil, 

 with a peak in biomass shortly after snowmelt followed by a gradual 

 decline (cf. Figure 8-7). The peak in fungal biomass is most evident in 

 wet meadows and rims of low-centered polygons, which accumulate less 

 moisture than do the concave microtopographic units. In the basins of 

 low-centered polygons, fungal biomass in litter shows a gradual decline 



