This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier’s archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright Author's personal copy fungal ecology 4 (2011) 134e146 available at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/funeco Addressing uncertainty: How to conserve and manage rare or little-known fungi Randy MOLINAa,*, Thomas R. HORTONb, James M. TRAPPEa, Bruce G. MARCOTc aOregon State University, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA bState University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, 246 Illick Hall, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA cUSDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 620 SW Main Street, Suite 400, Portland, OR 97205, USA article info abstract Article history: One of the greater challenges in conserving fungi comes from our incomplete knowledge of Received 8 March 2010 degree of rarity, risk status, and habitat requirements of most fungal species. We discuss Accepted 15 June 2010 approaches to immediately begin closing knowledge gaps, including: (1) harnessing Available online 15 September 2010 collective expert knowledge so that data from professional experiences (e.g., personal Corresponding editor: Anne Pringle collection and herbarium records) are better organized and made available to the broader mycological community; (2) thinking outside the mycology box by learning and borrowing Keywords: from conservation approaches to other taxonomic groups; (3) developing and testing Adaptive management hypothesis-driven habitat models for representative fungi to provide support for habitat Expert knowledge restoration and management; (4) framing ecological questions and conducting field Fungus conservation surveys and research more directly pertinent to conservation information needs; and (5) Habitat modeling providing adaptive management guidelines and strategies for resource managers to Species vs. systems approaches conserve fungi based on incrementally improving knowledge from experience and conservation research. ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd and The British Mycological Society. All rights reserved. Introduction and ecology remain disparate and difficult or impossible to obtain for systematic rarity and risk analysis. Collection data The workshop on conservation of fungi at the 2009 Mycolog- often lack essential information for species or fungal ical Society of America meetings in Snowbird, Utah posed this communities, e.g., detailed macro- and microhabitat question: Have we enough information to make sound requirements or population metrics. Such knowledge and conservation judgments and management recommendations data gaps produce great uncertainty in identifying species at for fungi at risk or fungi in general? The answer was an risk and appropriate conservation measures. Nevertheless, equivocal yes and no. Yes, knowledge of taxonomy, biology, rather than discouraging mycologists, this raises an exciting and ecology of fungi is considerable and growing rapidly with challenge. use of molecular tools. Yet, we remain daunted by the number Conservation of fungi raises several key questions. Do we of fungus species about which we know little or nothing, not include all fungal species in a conservation agenda or only to mention those still undiscovered. Much of the data, rare species? If we focus on rare species, how do we determine particularly on species occurrences and geographic ranges, which are truly rare? Fungi are difficult to detect due to their * Corresponding author. 620 SE 14th Court, Gresham, OR 97080, USA. E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Molina). 1754-5048/$ e see front matter ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd and The British Mycological Society. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.funeco.2010.06.003 Author's personal copy How to conserve and manage rare or little-known fungi 135 often cryptic natures and ephemeral production of fruiting regarding species identifications e some ecological diver- structures. Of the ca. 1.5 million estimated species, only about sity studies determine only unique DNA sequences, simply 5 % are formally described (Hawksworth 1997, 2001). Although referred to as “taxonomic units,” and we are left with poor mycologists have determined through Red-list analyses that description of the actual species involved. several hundreds are indeed rare (Dahlberg et al. 2009), most (2) Distributional uncertainty e We lack systematic inventories fall into what Molina & Marcot (2007) called the “little-known of fungal species presence, abundance, and distribution e conundrum” e some may indeed be rare, others common, but all key determinants of species rarity, population trends, we do not know about rarity for most and likely will never and extirpation risk. Inventories or systematic surveys are know. Further, we know that fungi play key functional roles in difficult for several reasons, including lack of experts to nutrient dynamics (Talbot et al. 2008), soil health (Claridge identify specimens (related to 1 above), training of field et al. 2009a), species mutualisms and interactions (Nishida crews in fungal collection, multiple years of surveys to 2007; Mack & Rudgers 2008), and overall ecosystem document presence or absence, and overall expense. Most processes (Dighton et al. 2005), but without knowledge of surveys focus on macrofungus sporocarps, but numerous distribution and ecology of fungal species and communities in molecular studies indicate that sporocarp surveys typi- specific environments, developing effective conservation cally underestimate diversity and do not accurately reflect guidelines will be difficult. species abundance or dominance in soils or roots (Horton How then do we conserve such an extremely diverse group & Bruns 2001). Successful examples of large-scale fungal for which so much knowledge is lacking and difficult to surveys or inventories (Ehlers et al. 2003; Molina 2008) and obtain? Clearly we cannot protect all fungi on a species-by- availability of inventory tools (Mueller et al. 2004) indicate species basis. Yet, much of fungal conservation via the IUCN is that we can progress significantly here if we design the species-based. To be inclusive for conserving fungi in general studies according to appropriate statistical sampling and (i.e., all the rare or little-known species), we need to test established collection protocols. broader system-level approaches (Raphael & Molina 2007). (3) Ecological uncertainty e Molecular tools have provided We do not review here all the issues regarding conserva- a wealth of new information on fungal diversity, commu- tion of fungi. Instead, we highlight some key areas where nity dynamics, host specificity, and species interactions. mycologists can have immediate and positive impact on Yet, we lack critical information on environmental asso- producing more data and designing studies that address ciations and habitat requirements for most fungi at micro- critical knowledge gaps and uncertainty. We focus on three and macrohabitat scales. We poorly understand responses common themes. First, recognize that we will never have the of most fungal species to natural and anthropogenic complete knowledge that is needed to address the issues disturbance at small and large spatial and temporal scales surrounding fungus conservation especially at the species- (e.g., Penttila et al. 2006; Peay et al. 2007; Trappe et al. specific level. Second, mycologists need to think outside the 2009b,c). Ecological information is needed to develop mycology box, consider conservation efforts of other disci- effective management guidelines that maintain or restore plines, and seek opportunities to test approaches and princi- habitat for fungal species. Species conservation programs ples developed for other taxa or systems. Third, mycologists typically take into account population trends, yet we lack can help craft fungus conservation guidelines in an adaptive critical population metrics and methods for fungi, such as framework that tests their efficacy and incrementally adds defining individuals and their longevity, dispersal modes knowledge. We draw on examples from the literature and and capabilities, and genetic structure. Further, mycolo- practical experience with conservation efforts in the Pacific gists need to understand how fungi have adapted to past Northwestern USA, particularly for ectomycorrhizal (EM) changes in the environment at various spatial and fungi. temporal scales so that we can predict response to ecosystem changes, including climate change (e.g., Chung et al. 2006). Sources of uncertainty Given these many uncertainties, how can mycologists Prioritizing information needs first entails understanding the better foster conservation guidelines and craft research basic sources of uncertainty for conserving rare or little- approaches to improve our ability to conserve fungi