Ecology I
Type of site, water
supply
The mycelium of Sarcoscypha appears to survive drought
for many years (see below). In order to induce fruit-body formation, however,
prolonged moisture over several months is required. This may be supported by
short-lasting flooding by rivers, but flooding does not take place in most
sites. Important is a dense canopy to ensure shading, but much more a shady
valley or a N-exposed slope, and a soil which is permanently moist by floating
ground water supplying the branches with calcareous water. The branches must
more or less be buried in earth or under a layer of litter, or among fallen
blocks of rock.
Typical sites are woods along rivers and rivulets, and boggy places, but
also valleys and slopes without running water. An earlier opinion that Sarcoscypha is absent from lakes is
probably erroneous.
Phenology
The three European
species of Sarcoscypha possess
particularly long-lived apothecia which overwinter by growing during the cold
months after a developmental period of 4-6 months (Harrington 1997: 54). In
contrast to this, S. occidentalis
fruits during summer.
S. austriaca (Feb.-May) fruits one or two months after S. coccinea (Nov.-March) while
S. jurana (Nov.-May) is somewhat
intermediate. This difference in
phenology partly originates from the preference of S. austriaca for higher altitudes. However, even when growing at
the same site (sympatric), S. coccinea
fruited about one month earlier than S.
austriaca. While apothecia of S.
coccinea and S. jurana may reach their
full size already during November, in S.
coccinea even with a few asci reaching maturity, those of S. austriaca are yet very small at that
time, and are still immature when the other two attained full maturity in
February (compare also Pidlich-Aigner 1999, van Duuren 2004, Matočec & Kušan 2007: fig. 4).
Cultivation
Apothecia repeatedly
develop from the very same branch over several years. Apothecia can be obtained
during the next spring season by burying infected branches (from which the
apothecia may be removed) during summer or autumn at shady places, and keeping
them moist in the case of a dry winter (Pidlich-Aigner 1999: 10).
Fresh apothecia can be
kept alive for several weeks in a tight box together with earth or mosses at a
temperature of c. 0-5°C. Likewise, mature apothecia of S. austriaca
survive about one month in the field, and apothecia developing during late
autumn persist in full size but with immature asci even about four months
during the cold season.
Xerotolerance
Hymenial elements do not survive
desiccation even for only one day. However, ascospores were still alive in
herbarium material preserved for 26 months or even 8 years! The mycelium inside
the branch also appears to survive drought. An odd experiment in front of my
house showed that infected branches still contain living mycelium 10 years
after placing them unburied outside on the ground. The mycelium within the
branches, beneath the blackish stain of the surface, is obviously highly
xerotolerant, as it produced fruit-bodies as soon as the branches came slowly
underground during these 10 years.
Frost-tolerance
An experiment with S. jurana showed that
the ascospores survive -18°C while the asci die off (temperature achieved
within 16-18 h starting from room temperature, G. Marson & Baral, ined., Ciboria caucus fully survived this
procedure). Despite this single experiment, the occurrence of Sarcoscypha species during the winter months tells for a high
frost-tolerance. Although usually covered by snow during winter, S.
austriaca was found to survive quite rapid changes in temperature in the
field from -15°C at night to a few degrees above zero during the day, and that
without being covered by snow (Pidlich-Aigner 1999).
Do Sarcoscypha spores infect
living branches?
The observation that the
mycelium inside the branches is xerotolerant led me to hypothesize that Sarcoscypha might infect its hosts
through living or necrotic branches in the crown and exist as an endophyte
inside them. With the death of these branches the mycelium would then decompose
the wood core. As we know from the inhabited branches, Sarcoscypha delineates the colonized wood area by a black
demarcation line of brown cells. The procedure of wood decay possibly lasts a year
or more since the branches dry out during the summer months, and the mycelium therefore
needs to survive desiccation during that period. Only when the branches fall to
the ground and are permanently moist, e.g., by being covered by snow during winter,
fruit-bodies can be formed. Fruit-bodies are known to be repeatedly formed over
several years every spring, until the nutrient resources are consumed. During that
time mosses overgrow the branches.
Fungi as a food source
Sarcoscypha ascocarps are used by insects (Diptera larvae, Collembola), isopods,
and snails (Gastropoda) as food source (Harrington 1990: 425). The red colour
of the discs might serve to attract such animals and to support dissemination
of ascospores.