Fungal Biodiversity and Conservation

Diversity of fungi in Ireland-

Sources• Catalogue of Irish Fungi (Muskett and Malone 1978; 1980)• British Mycological Society’s Checklist of Basidiomycetes for Britain and

Ireland (Legon andHenrici 2005);• Fungal Records Database of Britain and Ireland (FRDBI) (British

Mycological Society 2009) http://www.fieldmycology.net/• Database of the Northern Ireland Fungus Group (NIFG 2009);• Fungal records database in the National Biodiversity Data Centre (National

Biodiversity Data Centre 2008);• Published records from journals such as Irish Naturalists’ Journal, Field

Mycology and Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy.• Records held in Herbarium of National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin.

Basidiomycete diversity (from the “Checklist”)

ROI-1204NI - 1303Wales-1936Scotland -2507England-3482

Records in ROI are highest around Dublin and in areas visited by British Mycology Society or NIFG field meetings (Dublin, Killarney, Burren, Roscrea)

O’Hanlon, R. and Harrington, T.J. (2011). Diversity and distribution of mushroom-forming fungi (Agaricomycetes) in Ireland. Biology and Environment 111B (2), 117-133.

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Lacta

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Hygro

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50

100

150

200ROIESWNI

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sROI under-recorded in some genera

Reasons for differences

Forest cover

Parasitic

ROI E S W NI0

10

20

30

40

50

Sp

ecie

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Mycorrhizal

ROI E S W NI0

100200300400500600700800900

100011001200

Sp

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Wood decomposers

ROI E S W NI0

250

500

750

Sp

ecie

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Litter decomposers

ROI E S W NI0

100200300400500600700800900

10001100

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Functional group

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 450000

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Deciduous forest area (ha)

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Regression the number of fungal species per region versus the area of deciduous forest cover in hectares in the forest regions in England.

In UK, woodland fungi most frequently recorded;In ROI grassland fungi (waxcaps), most frequently recorded

• Ireland has no Red Data List for fungi• Fungi not considered in Checklist of Protected and Rare Species in

Ireland (NPWS, 2009)

Table 6 Data from Senn-Irlet et al. (2007) showing the fungal conservation ratings of Ireland and 5 other European countries. 1=best rating, 2= middle rating and 3= worst possible rating.

Ireland is 33rd out of 44

Country Checklist Professional mycologists

Amateur mycologists

Red list Conservation consideration

Ireland 1 3 - 3 3

UK 1 3 2 2 2

France 2 2 1 2 3

Switzerland 1 3 1 1 2

Poland 1 1 3 2 2

Finland 2 1 1 1 2

Unique Irish Fungal habitats

• Old Atlantic Oakwood

• Machair and sand dunes

• Raised and blanket bog

• Burren

Do we have rare fungi and are they in danger?

• Main danger is habitat loss.

• Lyophyllum favrei –an exampleA very rare, mycorrhizal (?)woodland fungus1 known locality in Ireland in a Coillte Forest ParkA EU Life-sponsored scheme to remove exotics i.e. beech, would have rendered this extinct.