Rainfall and temperature effects on fruit body production by stipitate hydnoid fungi in Inverey Wood, Scotland

Stipitate hydnoid fungi are considered to be rare in the United Kingdom based on infrequent and localised observations of fruit bodies. Here, we investigate whether the production of stipitate hydnoid fruit bodies is related to weather conditions using a 14 year standardised survey of 11 species associated with Scots pine. Fruit body production was highly variable over time and asynchronous between species. Relationships with climatic predictors were variable between species, however both overall abundance and species richness of stipitate hydnoid fruit bodies were related to rainfall. These results suggest that climatic conditions in the preceding months can influence the likelihood of observing stipitate hydnoid fruit bodies, but that a large part of variation in fruiting of these taxa remains unexplained.