0000000001145480
AUTHOR
Beatrice Senn-irlet
A fungal perspective on conservation biology
Hitherto fungi have rarely been considered in conservation biology, but this is changing as the field moves from addressing single species issues to an integrative ecosystem-based approach. The current emphasis on biodiversity as a provider of ecosystem services throws the spotlight on the vast diversity of fungi, their crucial roles in terrestrial ecosystems, and the benefits of considering fungi in concert with animals and plants. We reviewed the role of fungi in ecosystems and composed an overview of the current state of conservation of fungi. There are 5 areas in which fungi can be readily integrated into conservation: as providers of habitats and processes important for other organisms…
Modelled habitat suitability of fungi in floodplains
To maximize restoration efforts, knowledge on habitat key structures and potential for species occurrence is crucial for conservation. Contemporary protected areas such as national parks and nature reserves can provide refugia for fungal species. Still, the relative importance of single areas might vary across species, especially as they might have been chosen according to other criteria (e.g. endemism vs species richness). Despite the knowledge on the important role of fungi in floodplains e.g. for decay processes, little is known about fungal species distribution and important factors for species conservation in this dynamic habitat. The national database on Swiss fungi with 615'000 recor…
Revelations for global change and conservation: determining European fungal species’ patterns via a large-scale fruit body ‘meta-database’
PRESENTATION:The driving forces to the geographical structuring of fungi remain notably irresolute, despite well documented trends for a variety of plant and animal groups. This information is critical to planning and mitigating potentially negative consequences of global change, and especially related to conservation. We identified the major geographical and environmental gradients structuring fungal assemblages for two main nutritional modes, saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungi, through the use of 4.9 million European fungal fruit body observations. For both fungal nutritional modes, mean annual temperature correlated most with the first gradient identified that structured assemblages.…