Ecology II

Host preference

Woody substrates lying on the ground can be identified at the generic level by the microanatomy of the wood with different literature (e.g., Bukatsch & Jung, Hassler & Hirschmann, Schweingruber). Also the appearance of bark (if present) may help, particularly concerning Tilia. The data presented in the list below all refer to such identified substrate.

S. austriaca most commonly grows on Alnus (Baral 1984, Pidlich-Aigner 1999, Matočec & Kušan 2007). Pidlich-Aigner showed that only A. incana is inhabited, but never A. glutinosa. Salix and Acer are also frequently colonized. Alnus and Salix are peferably colonized in submontane areas while Acer as substrate is restricted to montaneous and subalpine areas. More rarely inhabited substrates are Sambucus, Corylus, and Ulmus. Robinia is very frequently noted as host, but exclusively for easten and south-eastern parts of Europe.

Coniferous substrate was very rarely encountered. Picea sitchensis was reported by Butterfill & Spooner (1995), Picea abies by Matočec & Kušan (2007), and Abies alba by Perić & Perić (2007), always for S. austriaca.

S. jurana and S. dudleyi show a very high preference for Tilia. T. platyphyllos is indeed the only known substrate of S. jurana, and Tilia americana is strongly favoured by S. dudleyi. Harrington & Potter (1997: 266) doubted the substrate specifity in Sarcoscypha. They found S. jurana also on substrates other than Tilia, but without giving detailed data (perhaps in Harrington 1996?). I strongly doubt this since substrates are often misidentified by collectors.

S. coccinea shows the highest substrate amplitude. Despite of this, the inhabited host genera are predominantly different from the other Sarcoscypha species. Favoured substrates are Rosaceae (mainly Sorbus and Prunus), Fagus, Carpinus, Corylus, Salix and Ulmus. Fraxinus as a host was long doubted by me since reports repeatedly turned out to be erroneous. However, on the Netherlands polders S. coccinea is actually regularly found on that host, also a recent find near Heilbronn (S-Germany) was on Fraxinus. Quercus as substrate is so far mainly known for S. coccinea and especially reported for the mediterranean belt (Qu. ilex, G. Garcia pers. comm.) and for the western part of N-America (Harrington 1990). Harrington reported ensheathed ascospores in N-American S. coccinea, a character never observed in European collections. This peculiarity together with molecular data (Harrington 1998) indicate that S. coccinea in N-America might deserve distinction at varietal or even species level.

S. macaronesica is predominantly found on Lauraceae. Records from the mediterranean area on Quercus ilex by Matočec & Kušan (2007) need further investigation as to the difficult separation from S. coccinea.

Table of hosts (* = 1-3, ** = 4-12, *** = 13-36, **** = 37-100, ***** = >100 records)

(this table includes, besides personal data, those of Pidlich-Aigner, Matočec & Kušan, Perić & Perić, van Duuren and others)

	austriaca	jurana	coccinea	macaronesica	dudleyi	occidentalis
Acer	****		*			*
Alnus	*****		*
Betula	*
Carpinus	*		***
Cornus	**
Corylus	**		****
Conifers	*
Fagus	**		****
Fraxinus	*		**
Juglans			*
Lauraceae				**
Ostrya			*
Populus	*
Quercus	*		**	*
Rhamnus	*
Rosaceae (woody)	**		****	*
Robinia	*****		*
Rubus			*
Salix	*****		***
Sambucus	***
Tilia		*****	*		**
Ulmus	*		***
Viburnum			*?

Plant communities connected to Sarcoscypha species in Central Europa and Macaronesia

S. austriaca:

community	typical plants	topography	geology
Alnetum incanae	Alnus incana	(colline to)  submontaneous Auwald	gneis, granite, Kieselkalk, Molasse, Kalknagelfluh, Löss, basic brown soil
Aceri-Fagetum	Acer pseudoplatanus	montaneous to subalpine rivulets
Salicetum	Salix	river banks
Robinietum	Robinia pseudoacacia	colline area (E-Europe)

S. jurana:

community	typical plants	topography	Geology
Fraxino-Aceretum pseudoplatani	Phyllitis scolopendrium, Lunaria rediviva, Tilia platyphyllos	rocky creeks, N-exposed slopes, shady valleys	Jura malm, basalt, strongly basic brown soil
Adoxo moschatellinae-Aceretum	(in Baral 1984 as Aceri-Fraxinetum)
Tilio-Taxetum	(Croatia)

S. coccinea:

community	typical plants	topography	geology
Ulmo glabrae-Aceretum pseudoplatani	Allium ursinum, Hepatica nobilis, Corydalis sp., Gagea lutea	river banks, N-exposed slopes	alluvial
Hordelymo-Fagetum	Allium ursinum, Asarum europaeum, Leucojum vernum, Ranunculus ficaria	base of dry valley	unt. Muschelkalk, Auelehm

S. macaronesica:

community	typical plants	topography	geology
Lauretum canariense	Laurus azorica, Ocotea foetens, Persea indica	N-exposed slopes	volcanic

180° panorama of Fraxino-Aceretum pseudoplatani with Phyllitis scolopendrium, S. jurana

Luxemburg, Manternach-Fielsmillen, 6.II.2005, phot. G. Marson

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