Friesia X, 4-5

F RIESIA . Bind X . Hefte 4-5 . 1974
FIREPLACE FUNG I IN AN ARCTIC AREA:
MIDDLE WEST GREENLAND
By PETER MILAN PETERSEN
Institute of Ecological Botany, University of Copenhagen
ABSTRACT
The fungus flora on burnt ground has been investigated in a
number of localities in middle West Greenland. It is established that
although fire is an ecological factor of only minor importance in
middle West Greenland as well as in the Aretic as a whole, fireplace
fungi are of widespread and common occurrence in the investigation
area. A total of 16 obligate fireplace fungi were found, of which 13
species have not hitherto been recorded from Greenland.
INTRODUCTION
In a previous series of investigations, the ecology of the fireplace
fungi has been studied in Denmark, an area of temperate climate. A
three year stay at the Aretic St ation in Godhavn, West Greenland,
provided an opportunit y to extend the studies into the Arctic. The
sporadic occurrence of burns in natural habitats, the long travelling
distances, and the shortness of the fungus season made it impossible
to visit most of the localities more than once. Therefore, the present
paper is mainlya contribution to the knowledge of the distributional
area of some of the fireplace fungi, although some ecological conc1usions
may also be drawn.
THE INVESTIGATION ARE A
The investigation area extends from Godhavn (69 0
14' N, 53 0
31' W) in the north, to Holsteinsborg (66 0 55' N, 53 0 40' W) in the
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