Macrofungi in Stands of the Endemic Pine Pinus peuce as Inferred from Morphological and Molecular Data

Abstract

Pinus peuce (Balkan, Macedonian or Molika pine) is an endemic tree for the Balkans and a Tertiary relict, one of the two European five-needled pines of the subgenus Strobus (white pines). This work summarizes the data on macrofungal diversity in natural forests and artificial plantations of Macedonian pine in Bulgaria, based on three year survey of epigeous and hypogeous fungi in selected sampling plots, and combining morphology-based and molecularly inferred identification. The study registered 190 species in total. Higher diversity of macrofungi was recorded on sampling plots in natural stands compared to artificial plantings. Nine species are reported for the first time for the Bulgarian mycobiota. The paper provides the first public set of sequences of macrofungi of P. peuce stands, comprising 62 accessions.