Distribution of poroid fungi (Basidiomycota) in the Atlantic Rain Forest in Northeast Brazil: implications for conservation

The poroid fungi are macroscopic fungi whose fertile surface is usually poroid. Most of them are saprobes on dead wood and play fundamental role in nutrient cycling, mostly releasing carbon removed from the atmosphere by autotrophic organisms. Despite their importance, little is known about factors affecting polypore occurrence in the Neotropics. In this study, it was tested what abiotic and/or biotic conditions shapes distinct polypore communities in the Atlantic Rain Forest in Northeast Brazil by comparing (1) the composition of the species between coastal and montane forest and between dry and rainy season; (2) the similarities among areas against distance, and (3) the abundance of the species on logs of different sizes and decay stages. One hundred and ten transects (sampling units) were visited from 2008 to 2014, resulting in 138 species of poroid fungi, 80 % of them of infrequent occurrence. According to the Analysis of Similarity and PERMA-NOVA, the fungal communities did not form distinct groups in relation to the forest type or season, but the areas were different from each other and the variation can be partially explained by the distance among them when using linear regression. The poroid fungi were more frequently recorded in logs of decay stage 1 and 2 and their size had little, if none, effect on polypore occurrence. Thus, we suggest the protection of every fragment of any type of Atlantic Rain Forest and that dead wood should be not removed from a forest in order to protect polypore diversity.