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Controlled surface fire for improving yields of Morchella importuna

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Abstract

Fire is known to benefit morel production, but the details of how or why remain unknown. To investigate the effects of fire treatment on the occurrence and yield of the morel Morchella importuna in semi-artificial, field-based setups, we designed surface fire treatments using different quantities of burning material (dry Pinaceae twigs). Developmental stages of M. importuna, including the formation and degeneration of mycelium, formation of ascocarp primordia, ascocarp initials, and mature ascocarps, were evaluated in square-meter quadrats in field experiments. Morel yields and soil were compared. Fire treatments corresponding to 1.7 and 2.5 kg burning material/m2 resulted in clearly increased levels of soil minerals and nutrients, and significantly increased formation of ascocarp primordial and morel yields. None of the fire treatments had a significant effect on the germination rate of primordia. Fire treatments corresponding to 0.8 kg burning material/m2 did not increase morel yield. Surface fires increased the suitability of soils for the growth and productivity of ascocarps of M. importuna if sufficient burning material is used.

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Acknowledgements

This article is dedicated to commemorating Prof. Linyong Zheng of the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS) for his great contributions to the development of the edible mushroom industry in Sichuan Province, China. This work was supported by the projects of the Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province, China (2016NYZ0040, 2016GZ0355) and the Sichuan Mushroom Innovation Team.

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Author notes

  1. Xiaolin Li

    Present address: Soil and Fertilizer Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 4 Shizishan Road, Chengdu, 610066, China

  2. Qiang Li and Chuan Xiong contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, 610061, China

    Qiang Li & Wenli Huang

  2. School of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Chuan Xiong

Authors
  1. Qiang Li
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  2. Chuan Xiong
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  3. Wenli Huang
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  4. Xiaolin Li
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Correspondence to Xiaolin Li.

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Section Editor: Hans-Josef Schroers

Electronic Supplementary Material

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ESM 1

Identification of the morels in this study (DOCX 85 kb)

ESM 2

Preparation of inoculum (DOCX 170 kb)

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Li, Q., Xiong, C., Huang, W. et al. Controlled surface fire for improving yields of Morchella importuna . Mycol Progress 16, 1057–1063 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-017-1350-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-017-1350-9

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