Two new species of Amanitasect.Phalloideae from Africa, one of which is devoid of amatoxins and phallotoxins.

Two new species of Amanitasect.Phalloideae are described from tropical Africa (incl. Madagascar) based on both morphological and molecular (DNA sequence) data. Amanitabweyeyensis sp. nov. was collected, associated with Eucalyptus, in Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It is consumed by local people and chemical analyses showed the absence of amatoxins and phallotoxins in the basidiomata. Surprisingly, molecular analysis performed on the same specimens nevertheless demonstrated the presence of the gene sequence encoding for the phallotoxin phallacidin (PHA gene, member of the MSDIN family). The second species, Amanitaharkoneniana sp. nov. was collected in Tanzania and Madagascar. It is also characterised by a complete PHA gene sequence and is suspected to be deadly poisonous. Both species clustered together in a well-supported terminal clade in multilocus phylogenetic inferences (including nuclear ribosomal partial LSU and ITS-5.8S, partial tef1-α, rpb2 and ß-tubulin genes), considered either individually or concatenated. This, along with the occurrence of other species in sub-Saharan Africa and their phylogenetic relationships, are briefly discussed. Macro- and microscopic descriptions, as well as pictures and line drawings, are presented for both species. An identification key to the African and Madagascan species of Amanitasect.Phalloideae is provided. The differences between the two new species and the closest Phalloideae species are discussed.

Uses and importance of wild fungi: traditional knowledge from the Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

BACKGROUND: Wild mushrooms constitute an important non-timber forest product that provides diverse substances and services, especially food and income for local communities from many parts of the world. This study presents original ethnomycological documentation from the dense rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. METHODS: Ethnomycological surveys were made within local communities near the biosphere reserve of Yangambi and the Yoko forest reserve. The interviews involved 160 informants from six different ethnic communities (Bakumu, Turumbu, Topoke, Lokele, Ngelema, and Ngando). Specific reported use (RU), the relative importance (RI), and the cultural significance (CS) of wild edible fungi were calculated using quantitative data from enquiries. RESULTS: The people from Tshopo use 73 species of wild mushrooms either for food (68 species), as medicine (9 species), in a recreational context (2 species), or related to myths and beliefs (7 species). Women are more involved in harvesting and are the main holders of cultural aspects related to fungi. The results show that knowledge of useful mushrooms differs between ethnic groups. The Ngando people have the highest ethnomycological expertise, which is expressed in their extensive cultural and practical use of fungi. Pleurotus tuber-regium is the most important species (MCSI = 1.9 and p value < 2.2e-16) as it is being used for food, as a medicine, and more. Daldinia eschscholtzii is the most important (MUI = 0.86 and p value < 2.2e-16) for medicinal applications, while Schizophyllum commune, Auricularia cornea, A. delicata, Marasmius buzungolo, and Lentinus squarrosulus are mostly appreciated for food. The latter five species are all wood-decaying saprotrophs. CONCLUSION: Despite the presence of edible ectomycorrhizal taxa in the dense rainforests of Tshopo, local people only seem to have an interest in saprotrophic taxa. Some mushroom pickers deliberately cut down host trees to promote the development of saprotrophic taxa. Inducing forest degradation is considered beneficial as it promotes the development of saprotrophic taxa. The domestication of locally appreciated saprotrophic lignicolous fungi is proposed as a mitigating measure against fellings.

Scientific user requirements for a herbarium data portal.

The digitization of herbaria and their online access will greatly facilitate access to plant collections around the world. This will improve the efficiency of taxonomy and help reduce inequalities between scientists. The Botanic Garden Meise, Belgium, is currently digitizing 1.2 million specimens including label data. In this paper we describe the user requirements analysis conducted for a new herbarium web portal. The aim was to identify the required functionality, but also to assist in the prioritization of software development and data acquisition. The Garden conducted the analysis in cooperation with Clockwork, the digital engagement agency of Ordina. Using a series of interactive interviews, potential users were consulted from universities, research institutions, science-policy initiatives and the Botanic Garden Meise. Although digital herbarium data have many potential stakeholders, we focused on the needs of taxonomists, ecologists and historians, who are currently the primary users of the Meise herbarium data portal. The three categories of user have similar needs, all wanted as much specimen data as possible, and for those data, to be interlinked with other digital resources within and outside the Garden. Many users wanted an interactive system that they could comment on, or correct online, particularly if such corrections and annotations could be used to rank the reliability of data. Many requirements depend on the quality of the digitized data associated with each specimen. The essential data fields are the taxonomic name; geographic location; country; collection date; collector name and collection number. Also all researchers valued linkage between biodiversity literature and specimens. Nevertheless, to verify digitized data the researchers still want access to high quality images, even if fully transcribed label information is provided. The only major point of disagreement is the level of access users should have and what they should be allowed to do with the data and images. Not all of the user requirements are feasible given the current technical and regulatory landscape, however, the potential of these suggestions is discussed. Currently, there is no off-the-shelf solution to satisfy all these user requirements, but the intention of this paper is to guide other herbaria who are prioritising their investment in digitization and online web functionality.

Multiscale assemblage of an ectomycorrhizal fungal community: the influence of host functional traits and soil properties in a 10-ha miombo forest.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are highly diversified and dominant in a number of forest ecosystems. Nevertheless, their scales of spatial distribution and the underlying ecological processes remain poorly understood. Although most EMF are considered to be generalists regarding host identity, a preference toward functional strategies of host trees has never been tested. Here, the EMF community was characterised by DNA sequencing in a 10-ha tropical dry season forest-referred to as miombo-an understudied ecosystem from a mycorrhizal perspective. We used 36 soil parameters and 21 host functional traits (FTs) as candidate explanatory variables in spatial constrained ordinations for explaining the EMF community assemblage. Results highlighted that the community variability was explained by host FTs related to the 'leaf economics spectrum' (adjusted R(2) = 11%; SLA, leaf area, foliar Mg content), and by soil parameters (adjusted R(2) = 17%), notably total forms of micronutrients or correlated available elements (Al, N, K, P). Both FTs and soil generated patterns in the community at scales ranging from 75 to 375 m. Our results indicate that soil is more important than previously thought for EMF in miombo woodlands, and show that FTs of host species can be better predictors of symbiont distribution than taxonomical identity.

Measuring spore settling velocity for an improved assessment of dispersal rates in mosses.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The settling velocity of diaspores is a key parameter for the measurement of dispersal ability in wind-dispersed plants and one of the most relevant parameters in explicit dispersal models, but remains largely undocumented in bryophytes. The settling velocities of moss spores were measured and it was determined whether settling velocities can be derived from spore diameter using Stokes' Law or if specific traits of spore ornamentation cause departures from theoretical expectations. METHODS: A fall tower design combined with a high-speed camera was used to document spore settling velocities in nine moss species selected to cover the range of spore diameters within the group. Linear mixed effect models were employed to determine whether settling velocity can be predicted from spore diameter, taking specific variation in shape and surface roughness into account. KEY RESULTS: Average settling velocity of moss spores ranged from 0·49 to 8·52 cm s(-1) There was a significant positive relationship between spore settling velocity and size, but the inclusion of variables of shape and texture of spores in the best-fit models provides evidence for their role in shaping spore settling velocities. CONCLUSIONS: Settling velocities in mosses can significantly depart from expectations derived from Stokes' Law. We suggest that variation in spore shape and ornamentation affects the balance between density and drag, and results in different dispersal capacities, which may be correlated with different life-history traits or ecological requirements. Further studies on spore ultrastructure would be necessary to determine the role of complex spore ornamentation patterns in the drag-to-mass ratio and ultimately identify what is the still poorly understood function of the striking and highly variable ornamentation patterns of the perine layer on moss spores.

Soil seed bank and seed dormancy in wild populations of lima bean (Fabaceae): considerations for in situ and ex situ conservation.

Seed dormancy and its impact on the soil seed bank for wild Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) populations were studied in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. Five populations were selected in contrasted environments. In all cases, distribution of seeds in the soil was limited to 3 cm depth. No innate dormancy was observed but combination of hard seed coat and hilum opening controlled by environmental conditions were responsible for an induced dormancy and the constitution of a persistent seed bank. Breaking of this dormancy was obtained by a brief elevation of temperature from 25° to 45°C. Impacts of this phenomenon concern both genetic and demographic aspects of in situ conservation of the species. Consequences on ex situ conservation are mainly related with the regeneration of the seed collection.