. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. 102 The Canadian Field-Naturalist. Vol. 116. Location Figure 4. Comparison of the mean number of truffle genera per diet sample ( per individual) among four fly- ing-squirrel populations. All data were collected during snow-free periods in mature conifer-forest habitat. Sample sizes and data sources are as fol- lows: Alaska (this study, n = 151); California (Pyare and Longland 2001, 93); NE Oregon (Maser et al. 1985, 63); and NW Oregon (Maser et al. 1985, 28). Although we did not assay truffle abundance at these study sites, and virtually n
. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. 102 The Canadian Field-Naturalist. Vol. 116. Location Figure 4. Comparison of the mean number of truffle genera per diet sample ( per individual) among four fly- ing-squirrel populations. All data were collected during snow-free periods in mature conifer-forest habitat. Sample sizes and data sources are as fol- lows: Alaska (this study, n = 151); California (Pyare and Longland 2001, 93); NE Oregon (Maser et al. 1985, 63); and NW Oregon (Maser et al. 1985, 28). Although we did not assay truffle abundance at these study sites, and virtually nothing is known about truffle distribution in Southeast Alaska, the simplest explanation for the disparity in squirrel diets between Southeast Alaska and elsewhere may be due to low truffle availability. Alternatively, snow cover could not have been a factor for the rel- atively low consumption rates of truffles observed in our study. Nor is it likely that the disparity is explained by differences in food preferences, although we cannot exclude this as a possibility. We never encountered truffles at these study sites, nor did we ever witness mycophagous animal dig- gings, clues that both scientists and hobbyists com- monly use to locate these subterranean fruiting bod- ies (Waters and Zabel 1995). In contrast, S. P. fre- quently observed evidence of the association between these animal diggings and truffles in mixed-conifer forest of the Sierra Nevada Range, California. In samples from both old-growth and muskeg habitats in Alaska, the preponderance of Elaphomyces spp. further suggests that fungal diversity may be limited perhaps due to adverse cli- matic conditions of this cool, extremely wet region. Elaphomyces spp. have a relatively thick ( cm) outer peridium and are thought of as being among the hardiest of hypogeous fruiting bodies. We are particularly skeptical that truffles fruit to any sig- nificant degree in the more open areas of muskeg habitats, the soil of which
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