Approaches to sampling macrofungi

Abstract

At present most inventory work is conducted to increase our knowledge of fungal diversity and to learn about habitat preferences and geographic distributions of different taxa. A recent development in that respect is the inventory of target taxa for conservation purposes legally mandated as part of the federally approved management plan for old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest (Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team 1993; O’Dell et al. 1996; Molina et al. 2001). Although no nonlichenized fungus is protected yet by that plan, 225 species of old-growth-associated macrofungi in the Pacific Northwest are legally required to be surveyed and managed (USDA Forest Service and USDI Bureau of Land Management 2000; O’Dell et al. 2003). Reasons for undertaking inventories include prioritization of 164 Thomas E. O’Dell et al. potential sites for protection and assessment of the impacts of different land management practices on biodiversity (e.g., O’Dell et al. 1992a; Luoma et al. 1996b, 1996c, 1996d). Monitoring is undertaken to assess effects of commercial harvest on edible fungal sporocarp production and on population size (Pilz and Molina 1996), to determine long-term trends in populations of target species, and to determine effects of pollutants on different fungi (Gulden et al. 1992). Baseline data on the diversity and distributions of the taxa to be monitored (i.e., inventories) of the region under study are normally necessary before monitoring can begin.

Citation

O''Dell, Thomas E.; Lodge, D. Jean; Mueller, Gregory M. 2004. Approaches to sampling macrofungi. Biodiversity of fungi : inventory and monitoring methods. Amsterdam : Elsevier Academic Press, 2004: Pages 163-168.