Assim na terra como no dossel: o efeito da degradação da Mata Atlântica sobre as comunidades de cogumelos silvestres

Abstract

The Atlantic Rainforest domain is considered one of the 36 hotspots for biodiversity conservation worldwide, as it hosts tropical and subtropical biodiversity rich forests with high endemism. However due to continuous degradation it is estimated only 12.8% of its original area. In nature, mushrooms can be found on a variety of substrates. Ecologically, these fungi perform an important role on nutrient cycling and in the interaction with plants and insects, being considered potential environmental indicators. As other organisms, mushrooms interact with a range of environmental factors related to vegetation and microclimate. In this study the wild mushroom community was evaluated in natural forest ecosystems of Atlantic Rainforest as well as in artificial ecosystems with native and exotic vegetation in order to respond to following questions: (1) What are the effects of the Atlantic Rainforest degradation on wild mushrooms communities? (2) What’s the influence of environmental factors related to microclimate on richness, abundance and community composition? (3) In which substrates the wild mushroom communities distribute along different vegetation covering and, (4) what is its relation with richness and abundance? All the sporocarps belonging to Basidiomycota were collected and identified at the genus level according to their micro and macroscopical morphological characteristics. Furthermore, environmental variables (air temperature, soil pH and moisture, and precipitation) were collected from each survey site to evaluate their effects on mushroom’s community variables using generalized linear mixed model analysis. We observed a huge loss on wild mushroom richness and abundance in artificial ecosystems of exotic vegetation, while the values of artificial ecosystems of native vegetation were closer to the values obtained for natural ecosystems. Generally, the evaluated microclimate factors showed positive influence on richness, abundance and community composition. The wild mushroom community was mostly distributed on lignin and cellulose rich substrates, as litterfall and wood, which correspond with substrate availability and the observed major significance of saprophytic macrofungi. The results of this study expose the impacts of the Atlantic Rainforest degradation on wild mushrooms communities and contribute with valuable information for biodiversity conservation programs related to wild mushrooms and to this domain.