The family Hymenochaetaceae (Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota) in the islands of the Aegean Archipelago (Greece)

Abstract

In the frame of studying the diversity of wood-rotting macrofungi in Aegean islands, a notable Mediterranean biodiversity “hotspot”, the following hymenochaetoid species are reported for the first time in Greece: Fomitiporia erecta, Fomitiporia rosmarini, Hymenochaete fuliginosa, Inonotus cuticularis and Phylloporia ribis. The records of F. erecta and F. rosmarini are the first ever on Quercus coccifera in a worldwide context. Furthermore, they extend the known distribution of both species to the east Mediterranean region as well. The detected occurrence of P. ribis constitutes the first report of this genus for Greece; it was found on living trees and shrubs of Crataegus monogyna and Rhamnus alaternus in Andros and on Spartium junceum in Naxos. I. cuticularis was recorded on Acer sempervirens living tree trunk in Andros and on Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis in Agios Efstratios, while H. fuliginosa was detected in Ikaria on Quercus ilex. Detailed descriptions are provided for all five taxa, and the findings are critically discussed in conjunction with the relevant taxonomical literature. Furthermore, 10 additional hymenochaetoid taxa are reported together with information on their hosts and distribution in the Aegean islands.

• Fungal diversity
• Mediterranean vegetation
• polypores
• species distribution
• wood-decay fungi

Acknowledgements

The Moraitis Legacy (Andros) provided financial support for E. Polemis Ph.D. studies during the period 2003–2006. In addition, this work was partly funded by the Greek General Secretariat of Research and Technology projects EPAN (Action 4.5.1, FP66) and THALIS (“Metagenomics of ligninolytic microorganisms – Bioconversion of plant by-products into high-added value products”, MIS 377062). Professor Nils Hallenberg (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) provided valuable comments and suggestions on a pre-submission version of this manuscript.