Book of Abstracts (PDF) - International Mycological Association

IMC7 Monday August 12th Lectures
Remarkably, macrofungi of the North American alpine
zone have remained largely unknown until our recent
intensive efforts in the Rocky Mountains revealed a diverse
mycoflora. While Agaricales are well known for many
arctic-alpine regions, only a few were reported above
treeline in NA. To date, we have discovered over 150
species of Agaricales from the Canadian border south into
the Rocky Mountains, and above treeline (3300 m at 45°N,
3600 m at 38°N). Most are typical arctic-alpine fungi at
their furthest southern extent in NA. Predominant
ectomycorrhizal plants are Salix reticulata, S. arctica, S.
planifolia, S. glauca, Dryas octopetala, and Betula
glandulosa (rare). Mycorrhizal taxa include Amanita cf
nivalis, A. greenlandica, Russula nana, R. norvegica, R.
delica, Lactarius nanus, L. glyciosmus, L.
repraesentaneous, L. salicis-reticulatae, Leccinum
rotundifolia (rare), Laccaria bicolor, L. pumila, L.
montana, Entoloma alpicola, Cortinarius absarokensis, C.
favrei, C. hinnuleus, Hebeloma spp., and over 28 Inocybe
species. Bryophilous taxa include Omphalina, Rickenella,
Galerina, Marasmius epidryas, Arrhenia auriscalpium, and
A. (Phaeotellus) acerosus. Terrestrial saprophytes include
Cystoderma, Lepiota, Melanoleuca, Calocybe, and
Collybia. Most are known from other arctic-alpine habitats,
some are alpine-subalpine, and a few appear to be new.
Species distributions differ, with some restricted to
northern or southern RM regions.
51 - Basidiomycetes in arctic tundra in North Amercia
O.K. Miller Jr.
Virginia Tech, Dept. of Biology, Blacksburg VA 24061,
U.S.A. - E-mail: orsonk@cs.com
Approximately 140 species of Agaricales and
Aphyllophorales in the Basidiomycetes have been
described and reported from arctic tundra in North
America. Of these about 30% are ectomycorrhizal
associates of 14 species and two varieties of Salix, in
addition to Dryas integrifolia, Arctostaphylos rubra, and
Cassiope tetragona. Chief among the ectomycorrhizal
associates are Cortinarius, Inocybe, Hebeloma, Laccaria,
Lactarius, and Russula. Three species of basidiolichens in
the genus Botrydina (Omphalina) are widely distributed
and common. More than 32 genera of decomposers contain
about 100 species. Galerina, Phaeogalera, and
Leptoglossum have 22 species which are decomposers of
pleurocarpous Bryophytes. Over 60 species of
decomposers belong to the Coprinaceae, Tricholomataceae,
Strophariaceae, and Hygrophoraceae. Distribution of
tundra species appears to be circumpolar with restricted
endemism. The mycoflora is discussed in relation to the
Alaska North Slope tundra, and the arcto-alpine habitats in
the mountainous regions of northern North America.
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Book of Abstracts
52 - Arctic-alpine agarics and boletes (Basidiomycota)
past, present and future
E. Horak 1 , O.K. Miller Jr. 2 & C.L. Cripps 3*
1 Institute of Geobotany, Herbarium, ETH, Zollikerstrasse
107, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland. - 2 Virginia Tech, Dept.
of Biology, Blacksburg, VA 24061, U.S.A. - 3 Dept. of Plant
Sciences, Montana State University, 215 AgBioscience
Bldg., Bozeman, MT 59717-3150, U.S.A. - E-mail:
ccripps@montana.edu
By definition, arctic-alpine agarics and boletes are
ectomycorrhizal, saprobic or parasitic mycota which
closely interact-coexist with autochthonous associations of
lichens, mosses and angiosperms exposed to the harsh
ecological conditions above the upper timberline in alpine
habitats or in tundra of Subarctica and Subantarctica. The
first records on arctic-alpine macromycetes have been
published by Hooker (1811, Iceland), Greville (1822,
Scotland), Sommerfeldt (1833, Svalbard) and Heer (1936,
Switzerland). In general, comprehensive data about
taxonomy, ecology and distribution of arctic-alpine
macrofungi are still scarce and limited to few localities of
small geographic range in the Alps (Austria, Italy, France,
Switzerland), Pyrenees (Spain), Rocky Mts. (Colorado),
and several sites located in high circumpolar latitudes
(Alaska, Fennoscandia, Faerøer, Greenland, Iceland,
Russia, Svalbard). Taxonomically and ecologically the
moss-, lichen- and peat-associated taxa of Galerina are
today by far the best known group of arctic-alpine agarics.
Due to lack of data, the following localities are still white
or grey spots on the arctic-alpine map viz. the Caucasus,
the Himalayas, northern Japan (Hokkaido), and the high
mountain ranges in the equatorial belt of South America
(páramos), SE-Asia and Africa. Mycological fieldwork in
these regions is urgent.
53 - From microscopes to molecules: a journey through
time
J. Campbell
UIUC, Dept of Plant Biology, 265 Morrill Hall, 505 S.
Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL, U.S.A. - E-mail:
jcampbe2@life.uiuc.edu
The earliest references to marine fungi were made in 1846.
In 1907 there were only 16 known species of marine fungi.
It was not until the 1940's that any substantial interest in
marine fungi was generated. The Halosphaeriaceae was the
first family of pyrenomycetous marine ascomycetes to be
proposed. The importance of morphological characters
used to classify the family however were disputed, which
led to inconsistencies in the listing of representative genera.
Our understanding of the taxonomic importance of these
characters has increased with the availability of new
techniques. Here we look back on the journey through time
from light microscope to electron microscopes to molecular