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The contribution of tropical long-term studies to mycology

Summary

Scientists have long known less about fungi in tropical regions compared to temperate areas. This paper highlights how studying the same fungal communities over many years in tropical locations like Guyana reveals important discoveries about fungal diversity, including new species and unique ecological relationships. The authors show that public scientific databases contain far fewer fungal records from tropical regions than non-tropical ones, suggesting we may be missing crucial information about fungal biodiversity and how to protect it.

Background

Fungi represent the most diverse eukaryotic kingdom, yet our knowledge is limited by a distributional bias towards non-tropical regions. Long-term studies (LTS) involving repeated sampling over extended periods are necessary to fully capture fungal species diversity, but such studies are almost non-existent in tropical regions. This paper examines how tropical LTS contribute to understanding fungal biodiversity and ecology.

Objective

To demonstrate the contributions of long-term tropical fungal studies to mycology across multiple dimensions including alpha diversity, ecological and functional diversity, biogeography, hypothesis testing, and conservation. The paper emphasizes findings from an ongoing study in the Pakaraima Mountains of Guyana and highlights data discrepancies in public repositories.

Results

Tropical origins account for 33% of fungal species names in MycoBank since 1823. The UPRS documented approximately 1,500 fungal species including 128 new species and 10 new genera. Analysis revealed significant biases in public databases toward non-tropical locations, with tropical fungi underrepresented in NCBI sequences, IUCN evaluations, and iNaturalist observations. LTS revealed unique morphologies, ecological interactions, endemic species, and emerging pathogens.

Conclusion

Long-term tropical fungal studies are essential for advancing mycological knowledge and addressing the Wallacean shortfall in fungal biogeography. Continued investment in tropical LTS, combined with improved representation in public databases and conservation initiatives, is critical for understanding fungal diversity, endemism, and ecosystem functions in tropical regions.
  • Published in:IMA Fungus,
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: 10.1186/s43008-024-00166-5
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