Macrofungal diversity and habitat specificity: a case study

The diversity of macrofungi in the lateritic region of West Bengal was explored and 120 species, one subgenus and a variety, having eight ecological functions, were found to grow among three types of habitats, i.e. natural forests, plantation forests and villages. Yate’s corrected chi-square (χ2) test statistic was performed upon the 2 × 2 table (contingency table) and testing the null hypotheses of independence of observed cell frequencies of the presence/absence of a species in a given habitat type. Various degrees of specificities of macrofungi to their habitats were observed, i.e. Amanita vaginata, Astraeus hygrometricus, Laccaria laccata, Lactarius zonarius, Porphyrellus malaccensis, Russula brevipes, Russula delica, Russula emetica and Russula laurocerasi were absolutely specific for natural forests; Pisolithus arhizus and Ramaria fumigata were absolutely specific for plantation forests; Auricularia auricula, Schizophyllum commune and Termitomyces clypeatus (only association coefficient 100%) were found to absolutely specific for village habitat. MS Excel-based formulas for calculation of association/specificity of species to habitat and species to species as well as other diversity indices are provided. Local and tribal populations used 19 species of macrofungi during their fruiting period, of which 17 had culinary values and four were locally considered medicinal. This study is a first of its kind, and has various applications to allied disciplines in understanding diversity, ecology and biological prospects of the macrofungal realm.