Conservation of fungi

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Fungi are considered to be in urgent need of conservation by the British Mycological Society on the grounds that it is a traditionally neglected taxon which has legal protection in few countries. Current threats to fungi include destruction of forests worldwide, habitat fragmentation, changes in land use, pollution, anthropogenic climate change, and over-exploitation of commercially attractive species. Fungi population status has never been recorded until 2018 by the Royal Botanic Gardens. [1] These surveys relay species information, threats, and current protective policies. Expertise of 210 contributors from 97 institutions in 42 countries contributes to these reports. [1]

Contents

The Species Survival Commission of the IUCN has five specialist groups dealing with the conservation of fungi.

These groups are overseen by Cátia Canteiro, a plant and fungi specialist at the Indianapolis Zoo’s Global Center for Species Survival (GCSS). Under her leadership, these groups are focusing on Red Listing fungi species in order to build the foundation for conservation efforts.

Lack of knowledge is considered a major concern with a general paucity of comprehensive checklists, even for developed nations. In addition, the criteria for "red-listing" is not specifically designed for fungi and the kinds of data required, viz. population size, lifespan, spatial distribution and population dynamics are poorly known for most fungi. As a result, in practice, indicator species are identified as target foci for the conservation of threatened fungi. The term conservation mycology was coined in a 2018 publication. [2]

Ecosystem Services

Fungi provide numerous ecosystem services that are essential in maintaining ecological environments and reducing the effects of climate change. [3] Fungi help facilitate the nutrient cycle and carbon cycle, act as a food source for humans and animals, regulate animals populations, and contribute to the degradation of various pollutants. [3] Fungi are extremely diverse and take numerous approaches in providing these services through unique and complex ecological relationships. Fungi can have mutualistic, symbiotic, or parasitic relationships. [4] 90% of all plant species have been found to associate with fungi. [5] Fungi provide plants with nitrogen, phosphate, and water through decomposition, protect them against pests such as nematodes and arthropods, [5] communicate with plants through their mycelium network, [6] and stimulate plant growth by influencing root development. [5] Many of these mutualistic plant-fungi relationships are established between mycorrhiza fungi. [5] A continuation in the loss of fungi diversity and populations will drastically alter ecosystem identity, processes, and cost governments billions of dollars to provide their ecosystem services.

Conservation Strategies

Red Listing

Red Listing is an approach that works with the IUCN's Red List program in which biological, geographical, and population data are acquired from field studies. The data is put into the Red List database and utilized to inform governments and organizations as to how, where, and what is needing the most conservation efforts. This strategy works through the legislative or organization processes in order to turn field data into conservation efforts. Efforts include governmental regulation of the species and its use, habitat protection, and regulation of known threats. [7]

Species Specific Approach

Species specific approaches typically target known, at risk species, and utilize geographic data as well as population data to derive conservation strategies. [8] These strategies include reducing human use of the species, regulating land use, reducing invasive predator populations, and improving habitat quality. Geographic data typically includes information such as extent of occurrence and area of occupancy while population data includes information such as life-history strategies, known threats, and reproductive strategies. Species specific approaches may also target an associated keystone species and work to support them. Known keystone species can provide easier methods of implementing conservation efforts and help conserve all associated species. [8] Keystone species have effects known as a trophic cascade in which increasing population of keystone species regulate the population of predators of the target species. This in turn increases population size of the target species. Famously, Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park utilized this approach with wolf reintroduction to regulate elk populations and restore aspen populations.

System Approach

Systems approaches utilize biodiversity hotspots or establishing reserves for biodiversity and its protection. These system approaches focus on the range of biodiversity and preserving its order to restore system structure and composition. [8] In turn, conservation efforts fixate on maintaining "normal" conditions which include fire, flood, and other disturbance regimes. Community and habitat interactions and dynamics such as nutrient cycling, food webs, and key ecological functions of the target species group are monitored and restored if possible. [8] By establishing and maintaining "normal" conditions, conservationists hope that populations of target species, or target groups, will naturally return to their "normal" population levels.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation biology</span> Study of threats to biological diversity

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keystone species</span> Species with a large effect on its environment

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife conservation</span> Practice of protecting wild plant and animal species and their habitats

Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habitat destruction, degradation, fragmentation, overexploitation, poaching, pollution, climate change, and the illegal wildlife trade. The IUCN estimates that 42,100 species of the ones assessed are at risk for extinction. Expanding to all existing species, a 2019 UN report on biodiversity put this estimate even higher at a million species. It is also being acknowledged that an increasing number of ecosystems on Earth containing endangered species are disappearing. To address these issues, there have been both national and international governmental efforts to preserve Earth's wildlife. Prominent conservation agreements include the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). There are also numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) dedicated to conservation such as the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, the Wild Animal Health Fund and Conservation International.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation biology of parasites</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 "State of the World's Plants and Fungi | Kew". www.kew.org. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  2. ↑ May, Tom W.; Cooper, Jerry A.; Dahlberg, Anders; Furci, Giuliana; Minter, David W.; Mueller, Gregory M.; Pouliot, Alison; Yang, Zhuliang (2018). "Recognition of the discipline of conservation mycology". Conservation Biology. 33 (3): 733–736. doi:10.1111/cobi.13228. PMID   30264893. S2CID   52876429.
  3. 1 2 "Benefits of Fungi for the Environment and Humans". UN Decade on Restoration. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  4. ↑ "8.14: Symbiotic Relationships of Fungi". Biology LibreTexts. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "How plants make friends with fungi". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  6. ↑ "Underground Networking: The Amazing Connections Beneath Your Feet". www.nationalforests.org. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  7. ↑ "How the Red List is Used". IUCN Red List. March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. 1 2 3 4 Molina, Randy; Horton, Thomas R.; Trappe, James M.; Marcot, Bruce G. (2011-04-01). "Addressing uncertainty: How to conserve and manage rare or little-known fungi". Fungal Ecology. Conservation Underground: Fungi in a Changing World. 4 (2): 134–146. doi:10.1016/j.funeco.2010.06.003. ISSN   1754-5048.
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