- Proposed
- Under Assessment
- Preliminary Assessed
- Assessed
- CRPublished
Stilbohypoxylon macrosporum Hladki & A.I. Romero
- Scientific name
- Stilbohypoxylon macrosporum
- Author
- Hladki & A.I. Romero
- Common names
- IUCN Specialist Group
Cup-fungi, Truffles and Allies- Kingdom
- Fungi
- Phylum
- Ascomycota
- Class
- Sordariomycetes
- Order
- Xylariales
- Family
- Xylariaceae
- Assessment status
- Published
- Assessment date
- 2020-04-02
- IUCN Red List Category
- CR
- IUCN Red List Criteria
- C2a(ii)
- Assessors
- Camille Truong; Donald Pfister; Francisco Kuhar
- Reviewers
- David Minter (CABI International, UK / IUCN SSC Cup-fungus, Truffle and Ally Specialist Group)
Assessment Notes
Justification
This species is only known from forest in the southern Yungas of Argentina, but research needs to be done to see whether it is present in Bolivia too. This habitat is deteriorating outside of reserves, and the population is thought to be in decline. Overall the population size is thought to be small (c.160 mature individuals), and so the species is listed as Critically Endangered under criterion C2a(ii).Geographic range
This species occurs in the southern Yungas including the provinces of Tucuman, Salta and Jujuy. It could occur in Bolivia, but there is much uncertainty about this.Population and Trends
Only one collection has been made after the original publication. The species is rare and it seems to be limited to the southernmost part of these forests. The remaining areas of these forests are impoverished but now preserved from intensive agriculture so they constitute a safe environment for this and other fungi. However, some activities related to cattle have been noted to damage the lower levels of vegetation where this species was found. Since the reserves in the area have a high conservation status, we suppose that the numbers in reserves are stable, but forest outside of the reserves is in danger and decreasing. The species occurs at low frequency where it has been studied, and scaling up to take account of other areas of suitable habitat where the species may occur would give a population size of 160 mature individuals.
Population Trend: Decreasing
Habitat and Ecology
No specific associated plant has been determined since the indications in the original papers are limited to dicotyledon wood (see Hladki and Romero 2003). As for the other members of the order Xylariales, this genus is a wood degrader probably causing a limited white rot. Both anamorph and teleomorph coexist in the same stromatic structures and are involved in the life cycle on the woody substrate.Threats
This species is threatened by the reduction of the native environment and fragmentation of the forest by activities such as citrus or sugar cane culture.Conservation Actions
The areas in the province where this species occurs are now strongly protected from human activities, with multiple protected areas within its potential range (e.g. Los Diques Provincial Reserve, Reserva Natural Finca Las Costas, Las Yungas Biosphere Reserve). However, no specific actions are being undertaken for organisms other than vertebrates and timber species. More initiatives (including political actions) ensuring interconnection of the the patchy distribution of these forests are needed, in particular preventing the spread of agriculture into forest areas.Studies of the substrate specificity and states of degradation where this and other species occur would be useful. These could be used in order to identify the availability of such resources throughout the patchy distribution of forests in this region. Its presence in Bolivia also needs to be confirmed (E. Sir pers. comm.).
