Gi Zervakis

Macrofungi as ecosystem resources: Conservation versus exploitation

Fungi are organisms of significant importance not only for the crucial roles they undertake in nature but also for many human activities that are strictly dependent on them. Indeed, fungi possess fundamental positions in ecosystems functioning including nutrient cycles and wood decomposition. As concerns human-related activities, edible and non-edible mushrooms are also involved and/or exploited in forestry, pharmaceutical industry and food production; hence, nowadays they represent a major economic source worldwide. In order to maintain and improve their strategic importance, several conservation strategies, such as habitat preservation, are needed. This article reports several contributions inherent to the relationships between wood-decaying fungi, edible and non-edible mushrooms and their potential exploitation as non-timber forest products and genetic resources.

Macrofungi in Mediterranean maquis along seashore and altitudinal transects

In semi-arid Mediterranean environments, fungal activity is fundamental for buffering biotic and abiotic stress to the plant and for sustaining a vegetation cover. Despite the important role that fungi play in habitats stability, mycological data from Mediterranean ecosystems are scarce and fragmentary. We investigated fungal diversity in several areas characterized by Mediterranean maquis, from continental Italy, Sicily, and Greece in order to contribute to the analysis of distribution, ecology, and diversity of macrofungi in evergreen sclerophyllous shrublands at different elevation and distance from the seashore across the Mediterranean Basin. Several fungal taxa that are remarkable due to their ecology, rarity, and limited geographical distribution were recovered. Among them, the ectomycorrhizal species Amanita dunensis and A. valens were recorded for the first time in Italy. The wood-inhabiting macrofungi, Aleurodiscus dextrinoideocerussatus, Peniophorella tsugae, Perenniporia meridionalis, Phanerochaete martelliana, Vararia ochroleuca, and six Peniophora species were reported for the first time in Greece. Some species, such as Gloeodontia columbiensis, Ceriporia aurantiocarnescens, Peniophora pithya, and P. tamaricicola were collected on new substrates. For the two rare basidiomycetes Amanita eliae and Battarrea phalloides, molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis gave valuable information on their relationship with similar taxa.

The family Hymenochaetaceae (Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota) in the islands of the Aegean Archipelago (Greece)

In the frame of studying the diversity of wood-rotting macrofungi in Aegean islands, a notable Mediterranean biodiversity “hotspot”, the following hymenochaetoid species are reported for the first time in Greece: Fomitiporia erecta, Fomitiporia rosmarini, Hymenochaete fuliginosa, Inonotus cuticularis and Phylloporia ribis. The records of F. erecta and F. rosmarini are the first ever on Quercus coccifera in a worldwide context. Furthermore, they extend the known distribution of both species to the east Mediterranean region as well. The detected occurrence of P. ribis constitutes the first report of this genus for Greece; it was found on living trees and shrubs of Crataegus monogyna and Rhamnus alaternus in Andros and on Spartium junceum in Naxos. I. cuticularis was recorded on Acer sempervirens living tree trunk in Andros and on Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis in Agios Efstratios, while H. fuliginosa was detected in Ikaria on Quercus ilex. Detailed descriptions are provided for all five taxa, and the findings are critically discussed in conjunction with the relevant taxonomical literature. Furthermore, 10 additional hymenochaetoid taxa are reported together with information on their hosts and distribution in the Aegean islands.

Diversity of macrofungi and exploitation of edible mushroom resources in the National Park “Appennino Lucano, Val D'Agri, Lagonegrese” (Italy)

An investigation on the macrofungal diversity of the National Park “Appennino Lucano, Val DAgri, Lagonegrese” (Basilicata, southern Italy) was carried out, together with an evaluation of wild edible mushrooms in agro-forest ecosystems and their possible exploitation as a new source of food and revenue in rural and under-developed areas of this region. An unpublished list of 249 mushroom taxa (229 Basidiomycota and 20 Ascomycota), mostly belonging to the genera Tricholoma, Tuber, Russula, Amanita, Boletus, Lactarius, Mycena, Agaricus, Clitocybe and Hygrophorus, growing in this important natural area is provided together with ecological characterization of the recorded specimens. Inonotus obliquus is a new record for Basilicata, while Mycena bresadolana is reported for the first time from southern Italy. The presence of Amaurodon mustialaënsis, an extremely rare species of the northern hemisphere reported for the first time on white fir, is noteworthy. Among the previous findings, 116 species of edible mushrooms are presented and discussed in view of their relative abundance and edibility.