mycological research 112 (2008) 613–638 journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mycres Review Protecting rare, little known, old-growth forest-associated fungi in the Pacific Northwest USA: A case study in fungal conservation Randy MOLINA* USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA article info abstract Article history: In 1994, 234 fungal species were listed for protection under the Survey and Manage Received 29 June 2007 Programme (SMP) guidelines of the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), an area encompassing Received in revised form 9.7 M ha of federal land in the states of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. 16 November 2007 The fungal species were presumed rare, associated with late-successional old-growth for- Accepted 10 December 2007 ests, and in need of protection not afforded by the major elements of the NWFP, including Corresponding Editor: a vast system of forest reserves. The SMP guidelines thus called for protecting known sites David L. Hawksworth while gathering information through surveys to learn more about species rarity, distribu- tion, habitat requirements, and persistence concerns. If new information revealed that Keywords: a species was not rare, not associated with late-successional old-growth forests, or that Coarse-fine filter other aspects of the NWFP guidelines provided for their persistence (e.g. adequate protec- Fungal rarity tion provided by forest reserves), the species could be removed from the programme. The Fungal reserves first assemblage of known site records from fungal herbaria yielded approximately 3500 Habitat conservation records for all listed species. After 12 y of survey the total number of records increased Northwest Forest Plan four-fold to approximately 14400 records. Fifty-five percent of species were found at 20 or fewer sites and considered rare; 42 % were found at ten or fewer sites. Over the life of the programme, 39 species were removed from the programme primarily because they were no longer considered rare; many were found at several hundred sites throughout the NWFP area. Mapped distributions of known sites varied among species. When viewed across species, however, known sites were well distributed throughout the NWFP area, thus indicating the importance of the entire NWFP area in maintaining this diverse array of fungi. The NWFP relies on a system of late-successional forest reserves to act as a coarse-filter conservation approach to provide protection for late-successional species. Ninety percent of fungal species had some portion of their known sites within reserves, but only 34 % of total sites occurred within reserves. Thus, for the rarest species, applying a fine-filter conservation approach that protects known sites outside of reserves becomes an important aspect of species protection. The SMP became a costly and controversial aspect of the NWFP and underwent several administrative revisions including attempts to end the programme in 2004 and 2007. Regardless of costs and controversy, this conser- vation programme represents an unprecedented attempt to conserve rare fungal species at * Present address: 625 SE 14th Court, Gresham, OR 97080, USA. E-mail address: [email protected] 0953-7562/$ – see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Mycological Society. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2007.12.005 614 R. Molina a regional scale. One of the more important lessons learned is the absolute need for profes- sional mycologists to develop long-term partnerships with resource managers and other scientists, and apply mycological expertise to complex species and habitat conservation issues in an interdisciplinary setting. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Mycological Society. Introduction In the Pacific Northwest of the USA, the Survey and Manage Programme (SMP) of the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) was Interest in conservation of fungal diversity has increased over implemented in 1994 to conserve old-growth forest- the last 15 y, primarily due to the recognized loss or endanger- associated fungi and other species (Molina et al. 2006). Twelve ment (increased rarity) of macrofungi in Europe (Arnolds years have passed since implementation of the NWFP and fed- 1991), the USA (Molina et al. 2001), and elsewhere (Moore eral scientists have progressed significantly in gathering new et al. 2001). International attention to biodiversity conserva- information on listed species and developing conservation tion (e.g. the 1992 Rio Summit and 1993 Montreal Process) management measures (Marcot & Molina 2006). This paper also has emboldened mycologists to bring the conservation presents results from the fungal component of the SMP and of fungal species and their ecosystem functions into the examines them as a case study. Objectives include (1) describ- international agenda (Hawksworth 1997). Recent mycological ing the integration of fungal conservation within the larger conferences have included conservation symposia to catalyse context of a regional ecosystem management plan; (2) discus- efforts on this issue and groups such as the European Council sing issues of detection, fungal rarity, distribution, and for Conservation of Fungi (www.wsl.ch/eccf/) provide organi- persistence; (3) discussing the use of coarse- and fine-filter zational impetus. Several countries have developed Red Data approaches to conserving fungi across landscapes; and (4) lists of rare or threatened species and various levels of discussing the importance of research and management protection have been proposed or implemented (Arnolds partnerships to aid conservation. 2001). Moore et al. (2001) published the first treatise on Fungal Conservation – Issues and Solutions, and its chapters provide international examples of fungal conservation efforts and Overview of the NWFP and SMP management approaches. A universal recommendation flows from this body of work and others (Watling 1997, 2005) – the Considerable controversy surrounded use of federal forests in best approach to protect and conserve the fungal resource is the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s and 1990s (in this context, to protect their habitat, from the microscale of substrates to the Pacific Northwest refers to the States of Washington, the macroscale of landscapes. Unfortunately, mycologists Oregon, and California north of San Francisco; federal refers poorly understand the habitat requirements of most fungal to publicly owned lands that are managed by USA government species, so even this approach carries a degree of uncertainty agencies). Much of the concern centred on conservation of the until mycologists gain more knowledge (Buchanan & May remaining old-growth forests and their associated species, 2003). Molina et al. (2001) emphasized the need to address such as the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), fungal conservation concerns within the context of local and and on providing a steady flow of wood resources to timber- regional land and natural resource management issues, and dependent communities. Litigation from environmental to integrate fungal conservation activities within shared groups had effectively halted all timber harvest from federal objectives of large biodiversity conservation projects. forests. In 1993, President Clinton convened a forest summit Mycologists often lament the considerable challenges faced to discuss the issues and later commissioned a group of in conserving fungi compared with other taxa, e.g. over 1 M federal scientists to develop options for ecosystem-based fungal species, most still unidentified; poor taxonomic regional management to balance conservation goals with resources, including an eroding cadre of taxonomic specialists; sustaining the economic health of rural timber communities cryptic species attributes and problems with detectability; and (Thomas et al. 1993). A federal planning team was assigned a poor overall understanding of fungal ecology and population to develop a final plan from these options. The final plan biology. Nevertheless, mycologists are progressing on many would later be known as the NWFP and operate over a 100 y research fronts, particularly through use of new molecular timeframe (Johnson et al. 1999; Thomas et al. 2006; USDA & approaches to tackle difficult ecological problems. Recent my- USDI 1994). Two federal land management agencies, United cological texts on fungal communities and ecosystem function States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service and (Dighton et al. 2005) and inventory techniques (Mueller et al. United States Department of Interior (USDI) Bureau of Land 2004) synthesize current knowledge and provide new tools to Management (henceforth, the ‘agencies’), were responsible apply science findings to conservation issues. However, real- for implementing all aspects of the plan. These two agencies world species conservation is an applied science requiring manage the largest amount of federal forests in the western that scientists work closely with resource managers and the USA. concerned public to develop workable scientific solutions that The NWFP area (Fig 1) encompasses 9.7 M ha of federal for- balance often disparate societal desires and values. Practical estland and is divided into two primary land-use allocations: experience in this realm is a rarity for mycologists. matrix and reserve lands (see Thomas et al. 2006 for maps Conserving rare fungi in Pacific Northwest forests 615 reserve and matrix lands also provides connectivity across the