Polypore (Basidiomycetes) species richness and community structure in natural boreal forests of NW Russian Karelia and adjacent areas in Finland

A pilot survey of communities of wood-inhabiting polypores was made in intact natural forest landscapes of northwestern Russian Karelia. These communities were compared with those of fragmented, mostly seminatural old-growth forests of adjacent regions in Finland. Overall community compositions do not differ considerably, but the Russian Karelian sample plots had significantly higher species richness and more threatened and indicator species were found there.