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Diversity and ecological distribution of macrofungi in the Laojun Mountain region, southwestern China

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Abstract

Surveys of the macrofungi associated with eight different vegetation types in the Laojun Mountain region of southwestern China yielded approximately 520 species belonging to 175 genera. Species richness and diversity were highest in mixed conifer and broadleaf forests and deciduous broadleaf forests. In typical forests of temperate regions of the world, there are five dominant genera of ectomycorrhizal macrofungi. The distribution patterns of species in these genera for the different vegetation types indicate that they are able to associate with a wide variety of different trees. Analysis of data for common macrofungal species and taxonomic similarity of the communities present in the eight vegetation types suggest that the greater the differences in the plant species that comprise the vegetation, the less similar are the common macrofungal species associated with the most common host plants. These same data also show that some species of macrofungi occur only in one or two vegetation types. There were 156 species of edible fungi recorded from the different vegetation types, and these fungi appear to be abundant in the Laojun Mountain region. At different positions along the elevation gradient, positive correlations existed with respect to the relationship between species richness and diversity, and the general trend was for macrofungal species richness and diversity to decrease with increasing elevation, with the numbers of species recorded being significantly lower at the very highest elevation. The relative dominance of certain taxa in the assemblage of species present was found to increase with increasing elevation, and variation in the evenness component of diversity was slight. As such, the differences in dominance and evenness were also not significant (P > 0.05). Macrofungal species richness was slightly more diverse on shaded slopes than on more exposed (sunny) slopes, and the differences in species diversity, dominance and evenness were relatively minor. This suggests that slope aspect may only weakly influence the distribution of macrofungal species in the Laojun Mountain region.

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Acknowledgments

The Nature Conservancy is acknowledged as providing financial support for this study. We would like to thank all TNC partners in the Kunming and Lijiang Offices for their kind cooperation. Zhang Zhiming, who lives in the Laojun Mountain region, provided helpful guidance and suggestions during the field work. Chen Lijun, Li Qiaoming and Zhang Fengliang, former students at the Southwest Forestry University, gave considerable help in the identification work. We are also grateful to Dr. Zhu L. Yang, Kunming Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for his encouragement and support in identifying some of the specimens collected in the study reported herein. Steve Stephenson is thanked for improving the English in the manuscript.

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  1. Institute of Ecology and Geobotany, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China

    Ying Zhang

  2. Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, Yunnan, China

    De Qun Zhou

  3. Institute of Alpine Economic Plant, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lijiang, 674100, Yunnan, China

    Qi Zhao

  4. Faculty of Conservation Biology, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, 650224, Yunnan, China

    Tong Xin Zhou

  5. School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chaing Rai, Thailand

    Kevin D. Hyde

  6. Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Kevin D. Hyde

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Zhang, Y., Zhou, D.Q., Zhao, Q. et al. Diversity and ecological distribution of macrofungi in the Laojun Mountain region, southwestern China. Biodivers Conserv 19, 3545–3563 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9915-9

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