The use of exogenous sugars to accelerate microbial growth and eventually limit available oxygen in soil surrounding wood in soil contact was investigated on untreated Douglas-fir poles exposed over a 3 year period in Western Oregon. Isolation frequencies differed markedly between treated and untreated poles and the treatment did appear to shift the frequency of some basidiomycetes. The treatment was also associated with slight, but not significant delays in loss of surface integrity for the first 2 years of the test. These differences, however, disappeared after 3 years. The results suggest that exogenous sugars can alter the composition of the fungal flora in the soil surrounding untreated wood in soil contact, but the decay capabilities of that modified flora do not differ markedly from that present in the unaltered soil.

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