Checklist of Amazonian gasteroid fungi (Agaricomycetidae, Phallomycetidae, Basidiomycota)

ABSTRACT

The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, with high biodiversity of organisms. Despite the increasing knowledge about fungal diversity in the last few years, many fungal taxa, including gasteroid clades, are still poorly known. Gasteroid fungi are recognized by the maturation of basidiospores inside the basidiomata and by the passive release of spores. We conducted a detailed survey of published data on the species that occur in Amazon forests. We confirmed the occurrence of 83 species distributed in 22 genera, eight families and four orders. The most representative genera was Geastrum, followed by Cyathus, Lycoperdon and Phallus. We present an identification key for Amazonian gasteroid genera and a map of record distribution. This review is expected to contribute to identify distribution gaps for further research on gasteroid fungi and to subsidize policies for the conservation of fungi in the Amazon region.

KEYWORDS:
Neotropics; biodiversity; taxonomy; Gasteromycetes; rainforest