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Title: ECTOMYCORRHIZAL AND SAPROTROPHIC FUNGAL DIVERSITY IN WESTERN GUYANA

Author
item Aime, Mary
item HENKEL, TERRY - HUMBOLDT STATE UNIV

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/12/2004
Publication Date: 7/1/2004
Citation: Aime, M.C., Henkel, T.W. 2004. Ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungal diversity in western guyana [Abstract]. Proceedings of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, July 2004, Miami, FL, pp 38-39.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi form mutualistic symbioses with woody seed plants in temperate and boreal forests. These ecologically important fungi are poorly known from Neotropical forests, particularly those of South America. In Guyana, the Upper Potaro River Basin is characterized by scattered forests dominated by the leguminous EM tree Dicymbe corymbosa (Caesalpiniaceae). Mycological expeditions to this remote region in the 1990's indicated that a rich, putatively endemic EM mycota was associated with the Dicymbe stands. To more fully investigate the macromycete component of the region's forests, yearly plot studies were undertaken from 2000-2005. More than 150 species of EM fungi have currently been recorded from the D. corymbosa forests, of which >60% are new to science. EM fungi are almost entirely lacking in the mixed forests. More than 500 species of saprotrophic macromycetes have been recorded among the Dicymbe and mixed forests, accounting for ~75% of the macromycete species diversity. Analysis of fungal guild structure suggest that the more tree-diverse mixed forests harbor more host-specific saprotrophic fungi, possibly due to a higher diversity of substrata. Diversity indices indicate higher overall macromycete diversity in the D. corymbosa forests, primarily due to the high proportion of EM fungi. Phylogenetic analyses of individual lineages suggest that fungal population dynamics result from the more ancient EM fungal lineages existing in relative isolation with their EM hosts, and intermittently punctuated by influxes of weedier saprotrophs of a more global distribution. The Dicymbe forests of western Guyana constitute a hot spot for EM fungi in the Neotropics.