Richness and diversity of conidial fungi associated with plant debris in three enclaves of Atlantic Forest in the Caatinga biome of Brazil

Background and aims - A study of richness and diversity of conidial fungi associated with plant debris was conducted in three Atlantic Forest enclaves in the Caatinga biome: Serra da Jiboia-BA (SJ), Serra da Ibiapaba-CE (SI) and Brejo Paraibano-PB (BP). Methods - The plant debris samples including leaves, twigs and barks were washed in running water, incubated in moist chambers and analysed for 40 days under a stereomicroscope. The fungal reproductive structures were transferred to slides containing PVL resin and identified with specialized literature. Key results - The richness and diversity were similar in the three enclaves of interest. Cluster analysis using the Morisita similarity index indicated a group formed by fungal communities in SI and BP and another in SJ. Among these substrates, the leaves showed the greatest richness whereas the bark samples had the greatest diversity but any differences were significant. Multivariate analysis via NMDS revealed differences in the fungal community composition with respect to the substrate and area, but the similarity analysis (ANOSIM) indicated that the differences were significant only with respect to the substrate. Conclusions - The survey data showed the great richness and diversity of conidial fungi in the studied areas. The richness and diversity values in these areas and substrates were similar, and the differences were not significant. Substrate was the most determinant factor for the distribution of fungi compared with area.