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Summary: Effects of available water on growth and competition of
southern pine beetle associated fungi
Kier D. KLEPZIG1
, J. FLORES-OTERO2
, R. W. HOFSTETTER3
and M. P. AYRES3
1
USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, 2500 Shreveport Hwy, Pineville, LA 71360, USA.
2
Interamerican University, Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00957, USA.
3
Department of Biological Sciences Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755-3576, USA.
E-mail : kklepzig@fs.fed.us
Received 26 June 2002; accepted 26 November 2003.
Competitive interactions among bark beetle associated fungi are potentially influenced by abiotic factors. Water
potential, in particular, undergoes marked changes over the course of beetle colonization of tree hosts. To investigate
the impact of water potential on competition among three southern pine beetle associated fungi, Ophiostoma minus,
Entomocorticium sp. A and Ceratocystiopsis ranaculosus, we utilized artificial media with water potentials of 0, x5, x10,
and x20 MPa. Growth of all three fungi, when grown alone, decreased on media with lower water potentials. Growth
rates of all three fungi were likewise reduced in competition experiments. At x5 to x10 MPa, C. ranaculosus (a fungus
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