Abstract
Through land use change, forest and agricultural areas have been through major movements over time. Many convergent research results, gathered in the last thirty years, show however that the continuity of forested areas plays a fundamental part in the present diversity distribution patterns, mainly for higher plant species: the range of species in formerly cultivated forests is very different from those which were not, for an early given date. This impact of old use has however barely been studied for any biotic groups other than phanerogams. We are proposing to analyse the extent to which old agriculture leaves traces in the diversity of fungal species, who play an important part in ecosystem functioning. As a preliminary and necessary step to this study, we will establish a first map of the age of forest areas in all or part of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, from the ordnance survey map (first half of 19th century). We will compare the fungal communities in plot triplets: recent forest close to old forest, distant recent forest, homogenous for all other conditions. The species present will be characterised in parallel via repeated carpophores surveys and molecular analysis of litter and soil. A specific effort to liaise with private owners will be made, as they are most often the ones who own the most diverse territories from an old land use point of view.
France