In recent years the copper tolerant brown rot fungus Antrodia vaillantii caused severe damages on impregnated wood in ground contact. The pattern of decay gave the impression that impregnated wood was even more severely attacked than unimpregnated. To investigate this question more closely laboratory tests were carried out. In a "choice test" Antrodia vaillantii grew preferably towards CC-impregnated wood. Furthermore, when adding nutrients to the specimens, the mass loss of impregnated wood significantly increased, while the nutrients did not affect the mass loss of the unimpregnated wood. In addition, the temperature tolerance of the fungi increased slightly when growing on impregnated wood. It could also be shown that Antrodia vaillantii reacts with an increased production of oxalic acid to the presence of a CC preservative.

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