- Proposed
- Under Assessment
- Preliminary Assessed
- Assessed
- NTPublished
Cantharellus pseudoformosus D. Kumari, Ram. Upadhyay & Mod.S. Reddy
- Scientific name
- Cantharellus pseudoformosus
- Author
- D. Kumari, Ram. Upadhyay & Mod.S. Reddy
- Common names
- IUCN Specialist Group
Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball- Kingdom
- Fungi
- Phylum
- Basidiomycota
- Class
- Agaricomycetes
- Order
- Cantharellales
- Family
- Cantharellaceae
- Assessment status
- Published
- Assessment date
- 2024-12-05
- IUCN Red List Category
- NT
- IUCN Red List Criteria
- D1
- Assessors
- James Westrip (IUCN Red List Unit)
- Reviewers
- Gregory Mueller (Chicago Botanic Garden / IUCN SSC Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball Specialist Group)
Assessment Notes
Justification
Cantharellus pseudoformosus is only known from Himachal Pradesh in northwestern India. It occurs in forests, associating with Cedrus deodara. Within the known range the population size could be fairly small, estimated to fall in the range 750-3,000 mature individuals. Thus, under criterion D the species could fall anywhere between Vulnerable and Least Concern. The best estimate is placed at 1,500 mature individuals. There is little evidence of any rapid forest cover loss within this range, though, and so the species is suspected to be stable and would not approach the conditions for listing as threatened under any other criteria. Using the precautionary best estimate for the population size, C. pseudoformosus would approach but not meet the threshold for consideration as threatened under criterion D1, and so is assessed as Near Threatened under this criterion. However, further research is needed into the full range of the species, and to ascertain a clearer population size, as this value could be an underestimate; and with further information a re-evaluation of its status may be warranted.Taxonomic notes
The paratype potentially could represent a different species (I. Olariaga Ibarguren in litt. 2022).Geographic range
This species is only known from Himachal Pradesh, India in the west of the Himalayas (Kumari et al. 2011). Collections have been made at Khajjiyar, Suala and Bharmour (Kumari et al. 2011). The paratype as noted in Kumari et al. (2011) (the Bharmour collection) could potentially represent a different species (I. Olariaga Ibarguren in litt. 2022). However, Deepika et al. (2013) give a different collection date for a collection at the paratype locality, which suggests this site is valid for the species, and potentially the incorrect specimen number was noted in the type paper.Population and Trends
Currently known from three sites (if the paratype locality is accepted and retained), the amount of suitable habitat within its known range could increase the potential number of sites there by 10 to 20 times. It is a gregarious/caespitose growing species, and so using Dahlberg and Mueller (2011) the number of mature individuals per functional individual would be at the upper end of the scale, i.e. 5-10 mature individuals per functional individual. With so few collections of the species, the number of functional individuals per site is likely to be small, and taking an estimate of five functional individuals per site, would then give a range of 750-3,000 mature individuals. Using a precautionary best estimate of 60 potential sites, each with five functional individuals, and five mature individuals per functional individual, this would give an approximate population size of 1,500 mature individuals. If the species were to occur throughout the range of its potential host, Cedrus deodara, though, this would represent an underestimate.
At the moment there is little evidence to suggest that the forest where the species occurs is in decline (see World Resources Institute 2023), and so tentatively the population is suspected to be stable.
Population Trend: Stable