Species diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with temperate forest of Western Himalaya: a preliminary assessment

An attempt has been made to give an assessment of the species diversity of epigeous ectomycorrhizal fungi of the temperate forests of Western Himalaya, based on studies carried out in the region. The main hosts were oaks (primarily Quercus leucotrichophora and Q. floribunda), pines (Pinus roxburghii and P. wallichiana) and deodar (Cedrus deodara). The species richness of ectomycorrhizal fungi was 43 in oak forests and 55 in conifer forests, which is close to midpoint values on the range derived from the literature for similar forest types. The major genera in terms of species were Amanita (15 sp.), Russula (13 sp.), Boletus (12 sp.), Lactarius (9 sp.), Hygrophorus (4 sp.) and Cortinarius (4 sp.). Some of these genera showed clear-cut host specificity-Amanita was primarily associated with conifers and Russula and Boletus with oaks. All these forests with the dominance of ectomycorrhizal hosts, had low tree species diversity.