MYCOTAXON Volume 95, pp. 81–90 January–March 2006 Macromycetes of Pinacate and Great Altar Desert biosphere reserve, Sonora, Mexico Martín Esqueda1*, Martha Coronado2, Alfonso Sánchez1, Evangelina Pérez-Silva3 & Teófilo Herrera3 *[email protected] 1Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo A.C. Apartado Postal 1735, Hermosillo 83000, Sonora. México 2Centro de Estudios Superiores del Estado de Sonora Apartado Postal 11, Admón. 11, Hermosillo 83000, Sonora. México 3Laboratorio de Micología, Instituto de Biología, UNAM Apartado Postal 70-233, Coyoacán 04510, México D.F. México Abstract—Macromycetes associated with four different vegetation types in the Pinacate and Great Altar Desert biosphere reserve were studied over a one-year period. Twenty-seven taxa representing the Phallales and Agaricales were determined. Families represented include the Geastraceae (4), Agaricaceae (5), Phelloriniaceae (1), Lycoperdaceae (4), Schizophyllaceae (1), and Tulostomataceae (12). Of these, Montagnea arenaria and Podaxis pistillaris, which produced the highest number of collections, were the most widely distributed; species belonging to the Geastraceae and Lycoperdaceae showed a more restricted distribution. The most species-rich genus wasTulostoma with 12 taxa. Geastrum berkeleyi, G. schmidelii and Tulostoma mohavei are new records for México. Chorology and phenology of all species are outlined, and SEM micrographs of basidiospores representing six species are provided. Key words—Gasteromycetes, taxonomy, chorology, phenology, SEM Introduction Mexico ranks among the first three places in the world as far as biological wealth is concerned, with over 12% of the world’s biota. In general, its topography and geographical location on the boundaries of confluence of the neo-arctic and neo-tropical zones explain the large variety of ecosystems and resultant biological diversity. The Pinacate and Great Altar Desert biosphere reserve, which is located 31º30’-32º30’ N and 113º00’- 114º30’ W, comprises an area of 714,556.5 ha. The core area includes two discontinuous regions: the Sierra del Rosario in the reserve’s northwestern edge (with 41,392.5 ha) and the Sierra El Pinacate in the reserve center and eastern portion (with 228,112.75 ha). The buffer zone comprises 445,051.25 ha. Over 50% of Sonora’s area, 185,431 km2, corresponds to the Sonoran Desert, from which the remainder covers a portion of Baja California Sur in Mexico and Arizona and 82 California in the United States. This region is considered a tropical-subtropical desert with bi-modal rain patterns. Its climate, physiography, edaphology, and hydrography favor the establishment of a large diversity of species (Shreve & Wiggins 1975). The Sonoran Desert has four subdivisions, each of which has very particular features: the central gulf coast, the Sonoran plains, the Arizona high plateau, and the lower Colorado river valley. The biological diversity thus far catalogued for the biosphere reserve is represented by the following species: 41 mammals, 184 birds, 43 reptiles, 4 amphibians, 2 native fresh water fish, 560 vascular plants, and 11 fungi, including six Myxomycetes—Didymium dubium Rostaf., Badhamia melanospora Speg., Fuligo intermedia T. Macbr., Physarum notabile T. Macbr., P. robustum (Lister) Nann.-Bremek. and P. straminipes Lister (Moreno et al. 2004)—and five Gasteromycetes—Battarreoides diguetii (Pérez-Silva et al. 1994), Dictyocephalos attenuatus (Peck) Long & Plunkett (Esqueda et al. 1998), Tulostoma cretaceum, T. fimbriatum, and T. leiosporum (Esqueda et al. 2004). Our study expanded what is known about macromycetes diversity in the Pinacate and Great Altar Desert Biosphere Reserve. We report below on the 27 species recorded during our survey, of which 23 are new to the reserve and three are new to the Mexican mycobiota. Materials and methods The survey was conducted at Pinacate and Great Altar Desert biosphere reserve. Four types of vegetation were sampled seasonally from fall 2003 to summer 2004: microphyllous desert scrub, sandy desert vegetation, mezquital, and sarcocaule scrub. The 10 sites studied were geo-referenced with a Magellan GPS ProMark X (Magellan System Corp., San Dimas, CA) (Table 1). The sites have a dry type climate of the very dry, semi-warm sub-type, which is bi- modal: November to April and May to October with temperatures of 6 to 21ºC and 18 to 36°C, and rainfalls from 0 to 100 mm and 50 to 100 mm, respectively. The areas are located within the Sonoran plain, Altar Desert sub-province, Sonoran mountain range (sierra) and plain. Topographically, the sites correspond to sierra (Los Tanques), sandy zones (Ejidos of Punta Peñasco, Los Norteños, Sierra Blanca and Cerro Lava), sierras and small hills (Papalote), and badlands (Ejido of San Juanico; Celaya, El Colorado and El Elegante Craters). Taxonomic classification follows Kirk et al. (2001). Specimens were collected and conserved following conventional mycological techniques. Spores of most of the species were observed under a Jeol, JSM-5200 scanning electron microscope (SEM). Samples were studied after a treatment in a Polaron E-2000 equipment for 60 seconds at 1.2 Kv and 20 mA in an argon atmosphere until a 500 Å gold cover was obtained. Specimens are kept in the macromycetes collection of the Centro de Estudios Superiores del Estado de Sonora (CESUES) with some duplicates at the National Herbarium (MEXU). This work was presented at the “Fungal Biodiversity Symposium”, realized on March 4th, 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary as researcher of the Emeritus Professor Dr. Teófilo Herrera at the Institute of Biology, UNAM. 83 Table 1. Sampling localities in Pinacate and Great Altar Desert biosphere reserve Localities N W Altitude Vegetation Municipality of Sonoyta I. Sierra Los Tanques 31°46’12” 113°00’48” 371 m MDS II. Ejido Punta Peñasco 31º45’41” 113º15’57” 154 m SDV III. Papalote 31º55’44” 113º01’40” 307 m M IV. Crater Celaya 31º59’17” 113º27’20” 277 m SS V. Crater El Colorado 31º55’04” 113º18’44” 201 m SS Municipality of San Luis Rio Colorado VI. Cerro Lava 32º03’02” 113º33’33” 229 m SDV Municipality of Puerto Peñasco VII. Crater El Elegante 31º51’34” 113º22’55” 252 m SS VIII. San Juanico 31º50’01” 113º20’13” 198 m SS IX. Ejido Los Norteños 31º39’36” 113º19’37” 132 m SDV X. Sierra Blanca 31º31’32” 113º25’28” 60 m SDV Vegetation types: Microphyllous Desert Scrub (MDS); Sandy Desert Vegetation (SDV); Mezquital (M); Sarcocaule Scrub (SS). Results and discussion Phallales: Geastraceae—The family is characterized by gastrocarps with peridia that split into stellate rays, unbranched capillitia, and warty spores. Four taxa were determined within Geastrum, three of them found in the mezquital: G. berkeleyi, G. kotlabae and G. schmidelii (Table 2). Geastrum berkeleyi, which is close to G. campestre Morgan, G. kotlabae, and G. pseudolimbatum Hollós, was diagnosed based on the following features: a conical, plicate peristome, a coarse endoperidium, a short stalk and a non-hygroscopic exoperidium. Spores measure 5–6 µm diam.; SEM micrographs indicate that the epispore is composed of columnar processes with truncated apices that are about 0.7 µm high and occasionally confluent (Fig. 1). G. berkeleyi is a first record for Mexico. Macroscopically, Geastrum kotlabae is similar to G. campestre and G. pouzarii V.J. Staněk, but differs by having a sessile spore sac in contrast to the stalked endoperidial sac in the other two species. In Mexico, it is known to grow in arid areas of Baja California, Tlaxcala and Sonora (Guzmán & Herrera 1969, Esqueda et al. 2003, Calonge et al. 2004). G. kotlabae was the only species collected throughout the year (Table 2). Within the Sonoran Desert, G. minimum has been found to grow in microphyllous desert scrub, tropical thorn forest, spiny scrubland and tropical deciduous forest (Pérez-Silva et al. 1999, Esqueda et al. 2003). In this specific study, it was collected from sarcocaule scrubland in spring. The gastrocarp of Geastrum schmidelii resembles that of G. pectinatum Pers. but is smaller and has a short-stalked endoperidial sac covered by a thin powdery layer (this 84 Table 2. Distribution of macromycetes species in the Pinacate and Great Altar Desert biosphere reserve LOCALITIES SPECIES I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X Phallales, Geastraceae *Geastrum berkeleyi Massee 4 Geastrum kotlabae V.J. Staněk 2 1,2,3,4 Geastrum minimum Schwein. 1 *Geastrum schmidelii Vittad. 3,4 Agaricales, Agaricaceae Longula texensis (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Zeller 2 3 3 Chlorophyllum molybdites (G. Mey.) Massee 3 Endoptychum arizonicum (Shear & Griffiths) 1 1 Singer & A.H. Sm. Montagnea arenaria (DC.) Zeller 1,2,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,4 1,2,3 1 2 3,4 3,4 Podaxis pistillaris (L.) Fr. 2,3,4 1,2,4 1,2,3,4 4 1,2,4 1 1,2,4 3,4 1,2,3,4 1 Phelloriniaceae Phellorinia herculeana (Pall.) Kreisel emend. 4 Demoulin Lycoperdaceae Abstoma stuckertii (Speg.) J.E. Wright & V.L. 2 Suárez Calvatia pygmaea (R.E. Fr.) Kreisel et al. 1,2,4 2 Season: 1 (Spring); 2 (Summer); 3 (Autumn); 4 (Winter). * New records for the Mexican mycobiota. See Table 1 for locality data. Table 2 (Reserve macromycete distribution), concluded LOCALITIES SPECIES I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X Disciseda hyalothrix (Cooke & Massee) Hollós 2 Disciseda verrucosa G. Cunn. 2,4 Schizophyllaceae Schizophyllum commune Fr. 1,2,3,4 Tulostomataceae Battarreoides diguetii (Pat. & Har.) R. Heim & 2 4 T. Herrera Schizostoma laceratum Ehrenb. 1,2,4 1,2,4 2,3 4 1,4 1 1 1 Tulostoma albicans V.S. White 2 Tulostoma cretaceum Long 2 2 1 Tulostoma fimbriatum Fr. 1,2,3 1 Tulostoma involucratum Long 2 Tulostoma leiosporum R.E. Fr. 4 2 1,4 2 1,4 1 *Tulostoma mohavei Lloyd 2 Tulostoma nanum (Pat.) J.E. Wright 2 1 1,4 1 Tulostoma obesum Cooke & Ellis 1 2 2,4 1 1,4 1,4 2,4 1 1,4 Tulostoma pygmaeum Lloyd 2 Tulostoma xerophilum Long 2 1 85 Season: 1 (Spring); 2 (Summer); 3 (Autumn); 4 (Winter).