Artist's Conk

Description:

Ganoderma applanatum lives on hardwood, deciduous trees in clusters or individually. One can find Ganoderma applanatum growing on logs, stumps, or wounds of living/dead trees. This is a very common fungus. G. applanatum is distributed throughout the world, mostly being found in temperate and tropical zones. This fungus, however, is NOT found in deserts and prairies. Because this fungus is immotile, Ganoderma applanatum relies on wind, insects, and animals for distributing spores. Wind dissemination is the number one way of dispersing the spores, but insects and animals also have a part. The spores can catch a ride on them to move to a different location. Depending on the location G. applanatum is found, the diversity in other organisms will vary. Since this fungus lives and feeds on trees, living or dead, one will find this fungus where one would FIND deciduous, hardwood trees. Also, other organisms that live with this fungus include various numbers of insect species, from spiders to mites. One in particular that I encountered while researching was the forked fungus beetle, Bolitotherus cornutus. This insect feeds on Ganoderma applanatum. This beetle also lays one to two eggs on both the upper and lower surfaces per day, which adds up to eight to twelve eggs in total. If large enough, there could be a whole different ecosystem or habitat on or within one fruiting body. There are specific insects that only live on specific brackets. Some of these insects are so small that they live INSIDE the pores, so you can only IMAGINE what organisms depend on Ganoderma applanatum for food, shelter, and reproduction purposes. Ganoderma applanatum is mostly, if not always, found on trees. This fungus is found in many different locations in the world, but specifically, they reside on hardwood trees, which is their specific niche. In order for survival, they use the trees as a source of nutrition. They can be saproboic feeders or parasitic feeders.

Habitat:

One can find Ganoderma applanatum growing on logs, stumps, or wounds of living/dead trees. This is a very common fungus. G. applanatum is distributed throughout the world, mostly being found in temperate and tropical zones. This fungus, however, is NOT found in deserts and prairies.

Notes:

From: http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/ross...