Species diversity of macrofungi in the Wuling Mountain National Nature Reserve

Abstract

Aims: Macrofungi plays a vital role in maintaining the stability of ecosystem and making unique and vital contributions to human economy. In order to provide basic information for the development and utilization of macrofungi, a detailed investigation of the macrofungi resources in the Wuling Mountain National Nature Reserve was carried out. Methods: A preliminary survey and assessment of the macrofungal species diversity in the reserve was conducted between 2019 and 2020 using methods of line-transect surveys and random investigation. Totally, 1,132 specimens of macrofungi were collected. The diversity was analyzed based on morphological data and ITS evidence, and its resource value was evaluated by referring to relevant scientific literature. Results: A total of 236 species of macrofungi were indentified in Wuling Mountain National Nature Reserve, belonging to 107 genera, 56 families, 18 orders, 6 classes, and 2 phyla. Of these, 15 species are classified as Ascomycota, and 221 species as Basidiomycota. For the convenience of statistics, families with more than ten species were defined as dominant families, and genera with more than five species were defined as dominant genera. The dominant families consisting of 62 species are Russulaceae, Agaricaceae, Polyporaceae, and Cortinariaceae. The number of species contained in each family account for 8.90%, 7.20%, 5.93% and 4.24% of the total number of species, respectively. Eleven fungal genera are dominant, such as Russula, Agaricus, Amanita, Cortinarius, Lycoperdon, and Marasmius. These genera consist of 79 species, accounting for 33.48% of the total species. The results of the evaluation of the resource value of macrofungi showed that there are 66 edible, 35 medicinal, 36 poisonous, and 26 both edible and medicinal species in the reserve. Conclusion: The reserve is rich in macrofungal resources. The richest dominant families and dominant genera are Russulaceae and Russula. There are 127 species of valuable fungi. Meanwhile, the results provides rich resources for the introduction and domestication of edible fungi, the development and utilization of medicinal fungi, as well as the identification of toxic fungi.