The importance of root and butt rot for the biodiversity of spruce deadwoodThe primary objective of this study is to investigate whether Heterobasidion parviporum has an effect on the diversity and abundance of other fungal species on decaying wood. This study is the first attempt to investigate the importance of this fungal pathogen related to forest protection. It has been presented that forest sites infected with Heterobasidion have less of a protection value compared to healthy forest sites.