They rarely live more than a hundred years because of the bracket fungus Birch Polypore Piptoporus betulinus.
From the guardian.co.uk
They pointed out that one of the threatened trees was one of four in Britain to host the endangered bracket fungus Phellinus robustus.
From the newscientist.com
Ochre-fringed bracket fungus feasts on the dead wood, while the first green shoots of spring pierce the leaf mold, amid the tracks of wolves and bison.