Abstract
A macrofungal biodiversity inventory carried out in different forest ecosystems viz., west coast tropical evergreen forests, west coast tropical semi-evergreen forests, south Indian moist deciduous forests, southern subtropical broadleaved hill forests, southern montane wet temperate forests (shola forests), southern tropical dry deciduous forests, grasslands, Myristica swamp forests, and forest plantations falling in different forest divisions in the Western Ghats, Kerala employing opportunistic as well as fixed-size plot sampling methods from 2006-2011 yielded several rare and hitherto unrecorded macrofungi. In Russulaceae 15 species of macrofungi belonging to the genera Russula and Lactarius were recorded. Of these, 12 species of Russula viz. Russula aciculocystis, R. adusta, R. atropurpurea, R. cinerella, R. congoana, R. delicula, R. hygrophytica, R. luteotacta, R. mariae, R. martinica, R. michiganensis and R. periglypta and white coloured latex exuding Lactarius nebulosus are new records for the Western Ghats. All the Russulaceae members exhibit an ectomycorrhizal association with tree species like Hopea ponga, H. parviflora, Myristica malabarica, Vateria indica, Calophyllum apetalaum, among others.
Highlights
A macrofungal biodiversity inventory carried out in different forest ecosystems viz., west coast tropical evergreen forests, west coast tropical semi-evergreen forests, south Indian moist deciduous forests, southern subtropical broadleaved hill forests, southern montane wet temperate forests, southern tropical dry deciduous forests, grasslands, Myristica swamp forests, and forest plantations falling in different forest divisions in the Western Ghats, Kerala employing opportunistic as well as fixed-size plot sampling methods from 2006–2011 yielded several rare and hitherto unrecorded macrofungi
Materials and Methods Study areas were selected in the major types of forests, such as, western coast tropical evergreen forests, western coast tropical semi-evergreen forests, southern Indian moist deciduous forests, southern subtropical broadleaved hill forests, southern montane wet temperate forests, southern tropical dry deciduous forests, grasslands, Myristica swamp forests, and forest plantations falling in different forest divisions in the Western Ghats of Kerala
The family is dominated by the two well-known genera Russula and Lactarius
Summary
A macrofungal biodiversity inventory carried out in different forest ecosystems viz., west coast tropical evergreen forests, west coast tropical semi-evergreen forests, south Indian moist deciduous forests, southern subtropical broadleaved hill forests, southern montane wet temperate forests (shola forests), southern tropical dry deciduous forests, grasslands, Myristica swamp forests, and forest plantations falling in different forest divisions in the Western Ghats, Kerala employing opportunistic as well as fixed-size plot sampling methods from 2006–2011 yielded several rare and hitherto unrecorded macrofungi. In Russulaceae 15 species of macrofungi belonging to the genera Russula and Lactarius were recorded. Macrofungal diversity, as with all other subsects of biodiversity, exhibits distinct patterns in both space and time. Such fungal diversity patterns are, to a large extent, unexplored. Systematic studies were undertaken by the authors to understand the ecology, diversity, distribution, taxonomy and economic potential of macrofungi in different forest ecosystems in the Western Ghats. Macro-fungal assemblage, species abundance and frequency were very characteristic of shola forests and Myristica swamps. Taxonomical, ecological and diversity details of members of Russulaceae, viz., 13 species of Russula and two species of Lactarius are dealt with
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