Macrofungi in Mediterranean maquis along seashore and altitudinal transects.

In semi-arid Mediterranean environments, fungal activity is fundamental for buffering biotic and abiotic stress to the plant and for sustaining a vegetation cover. Despite the important role that fungi play in habitats stability, mycological data from Mediterranean ecosystems are scarce and fragmentary. We investigated fungal diversity in several areas characterized by Mediterranean maquis, from continental Italy, Sicily, and Greece in order to contribute to the analysis of distribution, ecology, and diversity of macrofungi in evergreen sclerophyllous shrublands at different elevation and distance from the seashore across the Mediterranean Basin. Several fungal taxa that are remarkable due to their ecology, rarity, and limited geographical distribution were recovered. Among them, the ectomycorrhizal speciesAmanita dunensisandA. valenswere recorded for the first time in Italy. The wood-inhabiting macrofungi,Aleurodiscus dextrinoideocerussatus,Peniophorella tsugae,Perenniporia meridionalis,Phanerochaete martelliana,Vararia ochroleuca, and sixPeniophoraspecies were reported for the first time in Greece. Some species, such asGloeodontia columbiensis,Ceriporia aurantiocarnescens,Peniophora pithya, andP. tamaricicolawere collected on new substrates. For the two rare basidiomycetesAmanita eliaeandBattarrea phalloides, molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis gave valuable information on their relationship with similar taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]