Chemical elements in Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes - The reference mushrooms as instruments for investigating bioindication and biodiversity
Fungi in the wild are among the principal agents in biogeochemical cycles; those cycles of matter and energy that enable ecosystems to work.
By investigating the biodiversity of Italian fungal species and concentration levels of chemical elements in them, it may be possible to use these fungi as biological indicators for the quality of forest, woodland and semi-natural environments.
The database of this EUR Report record the dry-material concentrations of 35 chemical elements, including heavy metals, in over 9,000 samples of higher mushrooms (Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes). These samples represent approximately 200 genera and a thousand species. As the database has attained statistical stability it has been possible to define the concept of a “reference mushroom”. The use of a “reference mushroom” may benefit – perhaps only as a methodological approach – various fields of mycological and environmental research; from biodiversity and bioindication, through taxonomy right up to health and sanitation issues.
The sheer volume of the collected data may prove to be useful as a comparison for data collected in the future; such results would also allow a better and more exhaustive interpretation of the effects of environmental protection laws that have been in place over the years to reduce or remedy current climate change phenomena and the environmental damage caused by human activity.
Studies pertaining to the frequency of occurrence and the ecology of the various fungal species found on Italian soil have tended to link the reference habitats used to European classification guidelines (Natura 2000, CORINE Land Cover, CORINE Biotopes and EUNIS). Thereby the foundations have been laid for the use of mushrooms as biological indicators for the measurement of soil and ecosystem quality.
SENA Fabrizio;
CENCI R.M.;
COCCHI Luigi;
PETRINI Orlando;
SINISCALCO Carmine;
VESCOVI Luciano;
2011-06-21
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC65050
978-92-79-20395-4,
1018-5593,
EUR 24415 EN,
OP LB-NA-24415-EN-C,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC65050,
10.2788/22228,
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