• Proposed
  • Under Assessment
  • Preliminary Assessed
  • VUAssessed
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Hygrocybe intermedia (Pass.) Fayod

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Scientific name
Hygrocybe intermedia
Author
(Pass.) Fayod
Common names
Fibrous Waxcap
suha vlažnica
Keskmine vesinutt
voskovka prostřední
Vezelige wasplaat
flammevokssopp
hygrophore intermédiaire
Ugunszvīņu stiklene
Feuerschuppiger Saftling, Trockener Saftling
IUCN Specialist Group
Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Basidiomycota
Class
Agaricomycetes
Order
Agaricales
Family
Hygrophoraceae
Assessment status
Assessed
Preliminary Category
VU A2c+3c+4c
Proposed by
A. Martyn Ainsworth
Assessors
Ivona Kautmanova, A. Martyn Ainsworth, Armin Mešić, John Bjarne Jordal
Editors
John Bjarne Jordal
Comments etc.
Irmgard Krisai-Greilhuber, Pavel Nedelev, Nicolas Schwab, Daniel Dvořák, Irja Saar, James Westrip, Inita Daniele, Wim A. Ozinga, John Bjarne Jordal (old account)
Reviewers
Anders Dahlberg

Assessment Notes

Justification

Hygrocybe intermedia belongs to the European waxcap assemblage whose members are globally red-listed based on the declining area/quality of their grassland habitat. They are rapidly disappearing across Europe due to changes in land use (agricultural intensification and decline of traditional farming practices) and increasing use of fertilizers and pesticides. Decline in area and quality of available habitat has approached (or possibly exceeded) 30% over the last 50 years; the decline in population size over this time could be higher. This decline in habitat is expected to continue even more rapidly over the next 50 years (approximately three generations: one generation for species of Hygrocybe s.l. is around 17 years). Currently the population size probably exceeds 20,000 mature individuals hence criterion A is applicable. This species meets the threshold for VU A2c+3c+4c. T


Taxonomic notes

On current molecular evidence, this name has historically been applied to a morphologically distinct species and does not refer to a species complex. There are two herbaria collctions as this listed from1887 and 1898 listed at Gbif from USA (Cornell University and The New York Botancal Garden) and one 1934 collection named as this listed on MyCoPortal from USA, Washington, Spokane. However there is no molecular evidence in Lodge et al. (2014) or in the GenBank and UNITE databases that H. intermedia occurs in N. America and so this outlying record has not been included in this assessment.


Why suggested for a Global Red List Assessment?


Geographic range

Although there is no ex-type sequence yet available, the species is relatively morphologically distinct and there is no known evidence of cryptic taxa within the established species concept. Regarded as “widespread, but rare” in Europe (Boertmann, 2010), this species is likely to be one of the genuinely rarer waxcaps in Europe. Not currently considered to be present in N. America due to the lack of DNA evidence to support such a claim.


Population and Trends

The population size probably exceeds 20,000 mature individuals but exact figures are unknown. GBIF (2024) lists more than 2500 records. The population is decreasing in all known countries of occurrence, caused by a cessation of small scale farming and traditional methods of grassland management. It is nationally red-listed in at least 10 countries; as CR in Estonia, EN in Denmark and Finland, VU in Austria, Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden,and NT in Switzerland (Arnolds and Veeerkamp, 2008; Dämon and Krisai-Greilhuber 2016; Senn-Irlet et al 2016;  Saar et al, 2019; SLU Artdatabanken 2020, Artsdatabanken 2021; Moselund et al 2023). The eastern boundary of the range is, as is the case for all members of this assemblage, unclear because of lack of data.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the area of grasslands in the EU declined by 12.8% over 13 y (1990-2003); only a few Member States managed to avoid this trend (Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations 2006: FAO Statistical Yearbook – FAOSTAT). Based on this, the decline is inferred to be 30% over 30 years (past, future and ongoing) but may actually be as high as 50% over three generations (50 years; e.g., 1975-2025) and even higher over longer time-frames. One generation for species of Hygrocybe s.l. is around 17 years (Dahlberg & Mueller, 2011).

Population Trend: Decreasing


Habitat and Ecology

Hygrocybe intermedia is an indicator of mycologically rich but nutrient-poor, semi-natural grassland (a member of the waxcap grassland assemblage). This habitat, which may be of low conservation concern for its plant and animal diversity, is rapidly disappearing worldwide due to changes in land use (intensification of farming practice, eutrophication and increased use of fertilizers and pesticides). Waxcaps are currently regarded as forming a biotrophic relationship with plants but the details remain unclear. Fruiting populations of waxcaps are nitrogen sensitive and dependent on a regime of grazing or mowing without applications of fertilizer or pesticide. The waxcap grassland assemblage is characterised by a large diversity of other fungal genera (including Entoloma, clavarioid taxa and geoglossoid taxa) that have similar nutrient and management requirements. Addition of fertilizers or cessation of grazing/mowing management is rapidly detrimental to fruiting community diversity. Hygrocybe intermedia was shown to have a relatively high dependence on seminatural grassland habitats in Norway with only ca. 5% of the surveyed national population occurring in rich/calcareous forests (Jordal et al., 2016).

Temperate Grassland

Threats

As a species dependent on semi-natural grasslands, Hygrocybe intermedia is threatened by habitat loss and degradation due to a decrease in small scale, low intensity farming. The main reasons for decline involve land that is no longer farmed or, if still in the farming system, is subjected to ploughing, reseeding, fertiliser application (mainly of phosphorus and nitrogen), reduced grazing intensity and eutrophication. According to NATURA 2000 reports (Calaciura and Spinelli 2008), grassland habitats are steadily decreasing, mainly due to abandonment or change in land use. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the area of grasslands in the EU declined by 12.8% from 1990 to 2003; only a few Member States managed to avoid this trend (Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations 2006: FAO Statistical Yearbook – FAOSTAT). Pressure caused by land use changes on grassland habitats is steadily increasing. Some 60% of newly afforested areas in the EU formerly was used as permanent/seasonal grazing land or hay-production in natural meadows. More than 75% of the grassland habitats in the EU are in an unfavourable conservation status, according to draft data provided by Member States under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive. Over the past decade, grassland butterflies have suffered large declines in Europe, with a reduction of abundance by almost 50%, with little sign of improvement (SEBI 2010 Biodiversity Indicators). According to the European Environment Agency (2015), natural and semi-natural grasslands have undergone a major decline in recent decades. Grasslands have one of the lowest proportions (11%) of favourable condition assessments and one of the highest proportions of decreasing assessments of all the terrestrial ecosystems considered. About 49 % of EU assessments for the 45 grassland habitat types of Community interest are “unfavourable-bad”. Moreover, almost 50% of grassland-associated birds are declining and the conservation status of other species is mostly “un-favourable”. Grassland butterflies, for example, are declining severely and there is no sign of level-ling off. Accordingly, Janssen et al. (2016) (European Red List of Habitats) reported that 53 % of the grassland habitats in Europe are threatened to some degree (the second most threatened habitat type after “mires and bogs”).

Housing & urban areasAgro-industry farmingAgro-industry grazing, ranching or farmingNutrient loadsHerbicides and pesticides

Conservation Actions

Site protection and management of habitats are both very important conservation actions for this species. Grazing, at least before the onset of the fruiting season, is of fundamental importance. On sites (e.g. sloping ground, thin soils) where cattle would cause soil erosion, sheep are the preferred grazing animal. Mowing, with collection of ‘arisings’, can substitute for grazing.

Site/area protectionSite/area managementHabitat & natural process restorationConservation payments

Research needed

Further ecological research needed to clarify resource relations of waxcaps

Population size, distribution & trendsLife history & ecology

Use and Trade

No use or trade is known.


Bibliography

Arnolds, E. & M. Veerkamp. (2008) Basisrapport Rode Lijst Paddenstoelen. Nederlandse Mycologische Vereniging, Utrech

Artsdatabanken (2021). Norsk rødliste for arter 2021. (Red-listed species in Norway 2021).  Artsdatabanken, Trondheim. ISBN: 978-82-92838-56-3

Dahlberg A & Mueller G. 2011. Applying IUCN red-listing criteria for assessing and reporting on the conservation status of fungal species. Fungal Ecology 4: 1-16

Dämmrich, F., Lotz-Winter H., Schmidt M., Pätzold W., Otto P., Schmitt J.A., Scholler M., Schurig B., Winterhoff W., Gminder A., Hardtke H.J., Hirsch G., Karasch P., Luderitz M., Schmidt-Stohn G., Siepe K., Täglich U. and Wöldecke K. (2016). Rote Liste der Großpilze und vorläufige Gesamtartenliste der Ständer- und Schlauchpilze (Basidiomycota und Ascomycota) Deutschlands mit Ausnahme der Flechten und der phytoparasitischen Kleinpilze.

Dämon, W and Krisai-Greilhuber, I. (2017). Die Pilze Österreichs. Verzeichnis und Rote Liste 2016.

Boertmann, D. (2010). The genus Hygrocybe. Fungi of Northern Europe 1. 2nd revised edition. Danish Mycological Society, Copenhagen.

European Environment Agency (2015). State of nature in the EU. Technical report No 2/2015. European Environment Agency, Copenhagen.

J.A.M. Janssen, J.S. Rodwell, M. García Criado, S. Gubbay, T. Haynes, A. Nieto, N. Sanders, F. Lan-ducci, J. Loidi, A. Ssymank, T. Tahvanainen, M. Valderrabano, A. Acosta, M. Aronsson, G. Arts, F. Attorre, E. Bergmeier, R.-J. Bijlsma, F. Bioret, C. Biţă-Nicolae, I. Biurrun, M. Calix, J. Capelo, A. Čar-ni, M. Chytrý, J. Dengler, P. Dimopoulos, F. Essl, H. Gardfjell, D. Gigante, G. Giusso del Galdo, M. Hájek, F. Jansen, J. Jansen, J. Kapfer, A. Mickolajczak, J.A. Molina, Z. Molnár, D. Paternoster, A. Piernik, B. Poulin, B. Renaux, J.H.J. Schaminée, K. Šumberová, H. Toivonen, T. Tonteri, I. Tsiripidis, R. Tzonev and M. Valachovič, (2016). European Red List of habitats. Part 2, terrestrial and freshwa-ter habitats. European Union, Luxembourg.

Jordal, J.B., Evju, M., Gaarder, G., 2016. Habitat specificity of selected grassland fungi in Norway. Agarica 37: 5-32.

Lodge D.J., Padamsee M., Matheny P.B., Aime M.C., Cantrell S.A., Boertmann D., Kovalenko A., Vizzini A., Dentinger B.T.M., Kirk P.M., Ainsworth A.M., Moncalvo J.-M., Vilgalys R., Larsson E., Lücking R., Griffith G.W., Smith M.E., Norvell L.L., Desjardin D.E., Redhead S.A., Ovrebo C.L., Lickey E.B., Ercole E., Hughes K.W., Courtecuisse R., Young, A., Binder M., Minnis A.M., Lindner D.L., Ortiz-Santana B., Haight J., Læssøe T., Baroni T.J., Geml J., Hattori T. (2014). Molecular phylogeny, morphology, pigment chemistry and ecology in Hygrophoraceae (Agaricales). Fungal Diversity 64:1-99.

Moeslund, J.E., Nygaard, B., Ejrnæs, R., Alstrup, V., Baagøe, H.J., Bell, N., Bruun, L.D., Bygebjerg, R., Carl, H., Christensen, M., Damgaard, J., Dylmer, E., Elmeros, M., Flensted, K., Fog, K., Goldberg, I., Gønget, H., Heilmann-Clausen, J., Helsing, F., Holm, M.F., Holmen, M., Jørgensen, G.P., Jørum, P., Karsholt, O., Larsen, M.N., Lissner, J., Læssøe, T., Madsen, H.B., Martin, O., Misser, J., Møller, P.R., Nielsen, O.F., Olsen, K., Sterup, J., Schmidt, H.T., Søchting, U., Teilmann, J., Thomsen, P.F., Tolsgaard, S., Vedel-Smith, C., Vesterholt, J., Wiberg-Larsen, P. og Wind, P. 2023. Den Danske Rødliste. Aarhus Universitet, DCE – Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi. http://www.redlist.au.dk.

Saar I, Oja J, Põldmaa K, Pärtel K, Zettur I, Kõljalg U. 2019.  Red List of Estonian Fungi – 2019 update.  Folia Cryptog. Estonica, Fasc. 56: 117–126 https://doi.org/10.12697/fce.2019.56.12

Senn-Irlet B., Bieri G and Egli S. (2007). Rote Liste Grosspilze. Rote Liste der gefährdeten Arten der Schweiz Ausgabe 2007

SLU Artdatabanken (2020). Rödlistade arter i Sverige 2020. (Red-listed species in Sweden 2020) SLU, Uppsala ISBN 978-91-87853-54-8


Country occurrence

Regional Population and Trends

Country Trend Redlisted