Wood technology is constantly looking for environmentally friendly technological solutions. It seems that nanotechnology can provide green and environmentally friendly alternatives for wood protection. In this study, the antifungal activity of silver and copper nanoparticles against the white rot fungus Fomes fomentarius was investigated under in vitro conditions and with respect to the protection of Fagus sylvatica wood. In both experiments, 5, 25 and 50 ppm of nanoparticles were used. The results of the in vitro test showed selective antifungal activity of the nanoparticles. All concentrations of copper nanoparticles stimulated mycelial growth. The stimulation was inversely proportional to the concentration. Silver nanoparticles inhibited fungal colony growth at the highest concentration (50 ppm) and did not affect growth at concentrations of 5 and 25 ppm. Silver nanoparticles increased the rot resistance of beech wood, but only at the highest concentration. Decay caused by F. fomentarius was stimulated by copper nanoparticles at the highest concentration. Probably, the fungus used copper as a micronutrient for better growth and increased the activity of extracellular enzymes. Our results from in vitro tests are consistent with those obtained on beech wood specimens, showing that the concentrations of the two nanoparticles used were too low to protect the beech wood from decomposition by xylophagous fungus.

Practical application of active protection methods of Inonotus obliquus (Fr.) Pilát. was examined. Thirty live birches and 15 birch stem sections were artificially inoculated with the fungal mycelium in the Mińsk Forest District (E Poland). The mycelium of I. obliquus was not recorded in the felled test trees and birch stem sections upon the completion of the experiment. Artificial introduction of I. obliquus in the natural environment faces significant problems caused by strong competition from other birch wood-decay fungi. As in vitro studies show (individual biotic effect determination), the fungi examined, occurring on birch trees in nature, are dominant species in relation to I. obliquus.

This paper discusses details of the locality of Fistulina hepatica recorded on Castanea sativa, a new host species in Poland. Since 2014, F. hepatica has been featured on the list of species under partial protection, and has been marked as “R” (rare species) on the “Red list of the macrofungi in Poland”. A new locality of F. hepatica has been found in Warsaw, in the Mokotów neighborhood, on the premises of the Central Clinical Hospital of Ministry of the Interior and Administration. Two basidiomata of F. hepatica were discovered at the base of a declining sweet chestnut tree.

The article presents the results of inoculation of beech and oak stumps with a biological preparation of oyster fungus (Pleurotus ostreatus) mycelium. The inoculum was grown on a sawdust substrate at Warsaw University of Life Sciences Department of Mycology and Forest Phytopathology. The experiment was set up at the Forest Experimental Station in Rogów. Stumps were inoculated: i) immediately after tree felling or ii) at approximately 5 and 12 months after felling. A total of 60 beech stumps and 50 oak stumps were inoculated in the years 2002– 2004. The infected stumps were then inspected for the presence of the mycelium and fruiting bodies of P. ostreatus. The presence of fruiting bodies of other wood-decaying fungi was also noted. The extent of rotting was determined macroscopically, with the causal agent being confirmed on the basis of isolation and identification of mycelium from fragments of colonized wood obtained from rooted-out stumps. Oyster fungus mycelium was found to colonise beech stumps much more effectively than oak stumps. Stumps inoculated immediately after, or five months after felling were more effectively colonized by the mycelium than those inoculated after one year.