Abstract
The objective of present study was to understand the diversity, distribution and seasonality of polypore fungi in the moist deciduous forests of Peechi-Vazhani Wildlife Sanctuary in three different seasons. Results obtained showed that density and frequency of occurrence have been varied significantly during different seasons and the community structure and species composition during monsoon and post monsoon seasons were distinct from pre-monsoon season. Fomitopsis feei with higher abundance values dominated the moist deciduous forests during monsoon season (17.72) and post-monsoon season (13.79). During pre-monsoon season, Daedalea flavida was the dominant species with abundance value of 10.93. The above fungi were predominant during all the seasons due to their high ecological amplitude. Fungal diversity analysis showed that species richness was higher during monsoon season and revealed the influence of seasonal variation on fungal diversity. The high species similarity was observed between monsoon and post monsoon season compared to pre-monsoon and monsoon.
Highlights
Materials and MethodsIn contrast with the autotrophic plant communities, the distribution of the heterotrophic fungal community will be regulated by their demand for food resources, which will naturally tend to be diverse in supply and of limited duration
Research is needed to unravel the influence of various environmental factors on the species richness of polypore fungi in the moist deciduous forests of Kerala
A total of 648 individuals of polypores per hectare representing 20 species were recorded during monsoon season (Table 2) and structural analysis indicated that Fomitopsis feei recorded the highest relative density (22.79 %) and lowest value was recorded for Polyporus virgatus (0.15%)
Summary
In contrast with the autotrophic plant communities, the distribution of the heterotrophic fungal community will be regulated by their demand for food resources, which will naturally tend to be diverse in supply and of limited duration. A total of 648 individuals of polypores per hectare representing 20 species were recorded during monsoon season (Table 2) and structural analysis indicated that Fomitopsis feei recorded the highest relative density (22.79 %) and lowest value was recorded for Polyporus virgatus (0.15%). A total of 815 individuals of polypores per hectare belonging to 22 species were recorded (Table 3) and the structural analysis showed that Fomitopsis feei, an annual polypore with highest relative density (26.50%) and lowest value was recorded for Polyporus virgatus (0.12%). It was not so much evident that climatic fluctuations have an influence on the distribution All these species which were observed in all the three seasons and are more linked to the pre-monsoon period (Fig. 2).
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