Yadav, N.; Rakholia, S.; Ali, N.; Yosef, R. Fungal Diversity and Distribution in the Biodiversity Hotspots of the Western Himalayas. Diversity 2023, 15, 1106, doi:10.3390/d15111106.
Yadav, N.; Rakholia, S.; Ali, N.; Yosef, R. Fungal Diversity and Distribution in the Biodiversity Hotspots of the Western Himalayas. Diversity 2023, 15, 1106, doi:10.3390/d15111106.
Yadav, N.; Rakholia, S.; Ali, N.; Yosef, R. Fungal Diversity and Distribution in the Biodiversity Hotspots of the Western Himalayas. Diversity 2023, 15, 1106, doi:10.3390/d15111106.
Yadav, N.; Rakholia, S.; Ali, N.; Yosef, R. Fungal Diversity and Distribution in the Biodiversity Hotspots of the Western Himalayas. Diversity 2023, 15, 1106, doi:10.3390/d15111106.
Abstract
The western Himalayan region is a biodiversity hotspot. Although many of the flora and fauna are documented, there are very few studies of the fungal diversity. Here, we present the statistical analyses of the specimen collections from the past 150 years of data in the fungarium of the Forest Research Institute. We found that the host tree species, pine, oak, deodar, and spruce, had very high Shannon diversity (SD) and species richness (SR), while Dalbergia and Rhododendron showed moderate to low SD, SR; Sal, although found at lower altitudes has high SD, SR. Among the fungal families, the highest SD, SR was found in Polyporaceae. Hymenochaetaceae, Peniophoraceae, Coleosporiaceae, and Stereaceae also showed SD with moderate SR. Fomitopsidaceae, Cronartiaceae, Ganodermataceae, and Thelephoraceae have low species diversity and species. Thelesporaceae are distributed above 2000 m altitude, and Ganodermateceae and Hymenochaetaceae have broader ranges, namely 0 - 3500 m and 0 - 5000 m, respectively. The Polyporaceae show diverse variations in species distribution, occurring between 0 and 4500 m; Colesporaceae and Cronartiaceae around 2000 m; and, Stereaceae, Meruliaceae, Peniophoraceae, and Fomitopsidaceae occur between 1700 and 1800 m, with all Stereaceae and Fomitopsidaceae having different distribution ranges up to 5000 m. We found that areas with relatively low rainfall had lower species richness, and vice versa, and high solar radiation also negatively impacted fungal density and SR. Similar studies must be undertaken in other parts of the Himalayas, and the importance of fungi in ethnobotanical needs to be understood for ensuring sustainable use.
Keywords
Fungi; Diversity; Western Himalayan region; PCA; ANOVA
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Life Sciences
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
