Fomitiporia nubicola (Fomitiporia nubicola)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 202524755

Conservation of mountain biodiversity: efforts to understand Fomitiporia nubicola distribution, a Drimys exclusive fungus from threatened Cloud Forest

Fomitiporia nubicola is a wood-inhabiting and perennial fungus. It was found growing only on living and dead Drimys trees (mostly on D. angustifolia; Winteraceae), representing an exclusive host-fungus relationship. Fomitiporia nubicola is endemic to Cloud Forests in Brazil, even almost a decade of research, is restricted to two sites in Santa Catarina state (SC), 1,000–1,700 masl and was published in IUCN red list as Vulnerable (cutt.ly/2ztY74v).

 

Mountains in Brazil comprise a very rich, endemic and threatened biodiversity, usually neglected by inventory and monitoring studies. In Brazil, Cloud Forests are as forest-grassland mosaic mostly ranging 1,000 to 2,000 masl in Serra Geral and characterized by a small geographic extension, natural fragmentation, and dependent on rare microclimatic conditions, making them one of the most susceptible ecosystems to climate change. It is also known that although represented by small fragments, Neotropical Cloud Forests harbor a high diversity of Fungi, including several endemic species. As many other Cloud Forests, in Brazil they are currently threatened by human activities such as cattle grazing, fire, and land use change, resulting in a continuous decline of this vegetation, including the interconnected lives, as F. nubicola and also key resources such as water.

 

This project aims to provide robust data to support the (re)assessment of the extinction risk and bring the bases for F. nubicola conservation. We will perform fieldwork in Cloud Forests in southern Brazil to search for new populations. Fieldwork in other unexplored Cloud Forests might reduce the proposed threat level of the species, or more likely, corroborate or even enhance the level of threat.

 

This study will be carried together MIND.Funga (mindfunga.ufsc.br) at Federal University of Santa Catarina.

Project document

• Surveyed area against potential distribution of Fomitiporia nubicola.




Project 202524755 location - Brazil, South America