Highly competitive fungi manipulate bacterial communities in decomposing beech wood (Fagus sylvatica)
&NA; The bacterial communities in decomposing wood are receiving increased attention, but their interactions with wood‐decay fungi are poorly understood. This is the first field study to test the hypothesis that fungi are responsible for driving bacterial communities in beech wood (Fagus sylvatica). A meta‐genetic approach was used to characterise bacterial and fungal communities in wood that had been laboratory‐colonised with known wood‐decay fungi, and left for a year at six woodland sites. Alpha‐, Beta‐ and Gammaproteobacteria and Acidobacteria were the proportionally dominant bacterial taxa, as in previous studies. Pre‐colonising wood with decay fungi had a clear effect on the bacterial community, apparently via direct fungal influence; the bacterial and fungal communities present at the time of collection explained nearly 60% of their mutual covariance. Site was less important than fungal influence in determining bacterial communities, but the effects of pre‐colonisation were more pronounced at some sites than at others. Wood pH was also a strong bacterial predictor, but was itself under considerable fungal influence. Burkholderiaceae and Acidobacteriaceae showed directional responses against the trend of the bacterial community as a whole. &NA; Graphical Abstract Figure. The identity of the bacteria living in wood is influenced by the identity of the fungi living there.