Significance of precise documentation of hosts and geospatial data of fungal collections, with an emphasis on plant-associated fungi

ABSTRACT

In taxonomy, precision of species collection data is a cornerstone for advancing research and its diverse applications. Despite the widespread recognition of the significance of these data, researchers have frequently neglected some important details in published taxonomic studies. Historically, fungal studies leaned heavily on the morphological delineation of taxa. In contrast, taxonomic methods currently employ a synthesis of a diverse combination of morpho-molecular markers, chemical attributes and both ecological and geographic data. Even with these new methods, mycologists value the data derived from old fungal records as essential guides for current and future studies. Therefore, this underscores the importance of careful documentation of data on habits and habitats in parallel with fungal collection. While collecting specimens of fungi, it is important to record metadata such as sampling location, habitat (host/substrate), season (date or specific season) and physical and morphological information on the specimen itself. These datasets will provide a rich source of information for the taxonomy, ecology and conservation of fungal resources. Understanding fungal distribution patterns and the possible explanations for these patterns is a real challenge for conserving biodiversity, and the lack of data-recording of specimens creates substantial obstacles. Accurate fungarium data are a basic source for understanding fungal distribution and patterns of richness and assessing red-listed and invasive species. This paper explores the importance of additions to fungal data recording, emphasising fungal hosts and geographic locations. We also discuss the significant roles of seemingly insignificant details in fungal data recording to enhance the understanding of researchers about the ecological relationships of fungal species.

KEYWORDS:

• Biodiversity
• conservation
• ecology
• small data addition
• standardised data collection and recording

Acknowledgments

Achala Rathnayaka profoundly gratitude to Mae Fah Luang university and acknowledges Kevin D. Hyde, K.W. Thilini Chethana, S. N. Wijesinghe and M. C. Dayarathne for their valuable suggestions and kind support. D. Jayarama Bhat and Dhanushka Wanasinghe gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided under the Distinguished Scientist Fellowship Programme (DSFP) at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Dhanushka Wanasinghe thanks the Yunnan Department of Science and Technology of China (Grant Nos. 202101AS070045, 202205AM070007, 202302AE090023, 202303AP140001). Samantha C. Karunarathna and Saowaluck Tibpromma thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32260004), Yunnan Revitalization Talents Support Plan (High-End Foreign Experts Program) and the Key Laboratory of Yunnan Provincial Department of Education of the Deep-Time Evolution on Biodiversity from the Origin of the Pearl River for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).