This project supports basic field exploration to study the bolete mushrooms (commonly known as porcini mushrooms) from Queensland, Australia - an area predicted to have high diversity. These mushrooms are highly prized by humans and animals for food; they are also important for their ecosystem function function as they form obligatory symbiotic associations with the roots of where they are the largest contributor to forest ecosystem health. Fundamental knowledge of fungal diversity is essential for any applied research on forest ecosystems. The investigators will produce baseline data on these Australian mushrooms via international collaboration and the training of several students. The project will also produce an evolutionary classification supported by modern methods and will construct online resources for identification, comparison, and documentation of bolete mushrooms.
The work outlined in this proposal will provide a first biodiversity inventory of this group of important mushrooms for Queensland, Australia; a region known to encompass three of Australia's Biodiversity Hotspots as well as World Heritage listed sites. Data gathered from this survey will prove valuable for understanding the systematics, biogeography, and ecology of macrofungi and will provide important information for understanding the formation, maintenance and conservation of a portion of Australia's unique forest communities that largely exist on nutrient poor, impoverished soils.
