Conservation of Fungi
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, mycologists began to document a severe decline in both species number and basidiome production in European mushroom-forming fungi (Schlumpf, 1976; Arnolds, 1988a; 1991; Cherfas, 1991), drawing upon several lines of evidence including foray records, mapping results (based on herbarium collections, literature records, and foray lists), and plot survey results. Although the inclusion of fungi as conservation targets lags far behind that of animals and plants, researchers and conservation practitioners are working to develop the scientific and policy tools necessary for assessing diversity, identifying threats to fungal populations and species, monitoring population status, and protecting rare and threatened species. The following pages describe the important roles and uses of fungi, the major threats to biodiversity as they pertain to fungi, the scientific and policy tools and organizations for fungal conservation, and the major information challenges facing fungal conservation. Many of these topics are discussed in additional detail in Osmundson, 2009.
[Note: The following links are under construction as of January, 2011. Please check back soon.]
Scientific and information challenges for fungal conservation
Resources and references for fungal conservation and management
