Statistical analyses
The mycelium age, i.e. layer, did not have any effect on the
decomposition (Table S1). Therefore they were treated as replicates,
allowing to use n=3 replicates for each week in subsequent statistical
analyses. A two-way ANOVA model with species, time and their
interactions was used to determine significant effects on the
decomposition of necromass (% mass remaining). This was followed by a
post-hoc analysis to evaluate significant differences between species.
Differences in initial chitin, glucans and melanin contents among the
necromass of the six species were assessed with one-way ANOVAs.
Differences in the concentration of chitin, glucans and melanin between
species over time and their interactions were assessed through an
ANCOVA. The relationship between the weekly mass remaining and the
concentration of melanin, chitin and glucans were determined through
linear model analyses. All statistical analyses were conducted using R
studio (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria)