Changes in the concentrations and composition of cations within wood colonized by the brown-rot fungi Postia placenta and Gloeophyllum trabeum and the white-rot fungi Trametes versicolor and Phanaerochaete chrysosporium were analyzed using plasma emission and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. In degraded poplar wood significant decreases in pH and electrical resistance readings were observed associated with colonization by all four fungi. Calcium, manganese and iron concentrations increased in the degraded wood. This was true both for concentrations based on final wood weight and original wood weight. In an analysis of spruce degraded by Phanaerochaete chrysosporium from 0 to 58 percent weight loss calcium, magnesium and manganese contents were significantly higher in degraded wood. Spruce degraded by Postia placenta from 0 to 56 percent weight loss showed a progressive accumulation of calcium, magnesium, manganese and iron with increasing degradation. The ability of decay fungi to modify their ionic environment is of potentia1 relevance to their ability to colonize and degrade wood.

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