- Proposed
- Under Assessment
- Preliminary Assessed
- Assessed
- VUPublished
Cortinarius murellensis Cors. Gut., Ballarà, Cadiñanos, Palazón & Mahiques
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- Scientific name
- Cortinarius murellensis
- Author
- Cors. Gut., Ballarà, Cadiñanos, Palazón & Mahiques
- Common names
- IUCN Specialist Group
Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball- Kingdom
- Fungi
- Phylum
- Basidiomycota
- Class
- Agaricomycetes
- Order
- Agaricales
- Family
- Cortinariaceae
- Assessment status
- Published
- Assessment date
- 2019-03-26
- IUCN Red List Category
- VU
- IUCN Red List Criteria
- C2a(i)
- Assessors
- Brandrud, T.-E.
- Reviewers
- Kałucka, I.L. & Iršėnaitė, R.
Assessment Notes
The content on this page is fetched from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/147852287/147852290
Justification
Cortinarius murellensis is a strict Mediterranean species, apparently with a rather local distribution, mainly in NE Spain, S France (and once found in E Italy) (Schmidt-Stohn et al. 2016). The species forms mycorrhiza with evergreen Quercus spp, mainly Q. ilicis, but apparently also with Q. coccifera.It belongs to the rich fungus element of calcareous Quercus ilex forests, where many habitat-specific taxa occur, especially of Cortinarius, subgenus Phlegmacium.
The Quercus ilex forests and woodlands have been declining e.g. due to transformation into secondary macchia due to land-use, severe forest fires, and die-back of oak due to Phytophtora and other pathogens. Cortinarius murellensis has some of its larger, known populations at higher altitudes of isolated mountains of islands (Mallorca), and these might decline due to climate changes.
The species is estimated to have a total population of 4,000 mature individuals. According to the criterion C2a(i), the species is assessed as VU, based on a continuous decline, population size <10,000 individuals and very small/isolated subpopulations.
Geographic range
Cortinarius murellensis has its major populations in a restricted area of western Mediterranean region (Schmidt-Stohn et al. 2016). The species is known from a few populations in E Spain (e.g. Morella, from where the species was described), including montane Mallorca, and SW France (Bedarieux-Montpellier). The species is also found once in a montane Quercus ilex forest of the Marche district, Apennines, E Italy (Schmidt-Stohn et al. 2016).Population and Trends
The species is known from three sites/localities in Mallorca, approx. 4-5 sites/localities in NE Spain (Castellón region), a couple of sites/localitites in Languedoc (Bedarieux-Montpellier) in SW France, as well as one locality in the Marche region of the Apennines, E Italy, altogether approx 10, verified/published sites/localities (see Schmidt-Stohn et al. 2016). The real, total number of sites/localities of C. murellensis is here estimated to 200; and to be equivalent to 4,000 mature individuals (cf. Dahlberg and Mueller 2011). The decline of the calcareous Quercus ilex forests in the evaluation period (last 50 years) is estimated to be in the magnitude of 15-20%, from which it is inferred a negative trend of the population.
Population Trend: decreasing
Habitat and Ecology
Cortinarius murellensis is a Mediterranean species, with mycorrhizal associations with sclerophyllous Quercus spp, mainly Q. ilex, but also Q. coccifera. The species occurs mainly in calcareous Q. ilex forests, including rather open forest borders with Q. ilex shrubs. Most finds are colline-montane, occurring up to approx 1,200 m asl in NE Spain and Mallorca.Threats
Cortinarius murellensis and its habitats (calcareous Quercus ilex forests and woodlands) have been declining e.g. due to transformation into secondary macchia due to land-use, severe forest fires, and die-back of oak due to Phytophtora and other pathogens (Hansen and Delatour 1999, Denman et al. 2014). Cortinarius murellensis has some of its larger, known populations at higher altitudes of isolated mountains of islands (Mallorca), and these might decline due to climate changes, affecting the altitudal zonation.Conservation Actions
To prevent decline and further fragmentation of calcareous Quercus ilex forests with good habitat quality, it is important to set aside reserves on calcareous hotspots, housing many rare/threatened, habitat-specific species such as C. aurilicis, C. quercilicis, C. humolens. It is furthermore important to establish also sites with a less strict conservation regime, such as woodland key biotopes, where some non-destructive human activity is accepted (such as non-intensive, closed cutting).More mapping/surveying and monitoring of C. murellensis are needed. More data on occurrences in calcareous Quercus ilex forests of the W Mediterranean region (core region) are needed, as well as monitoring series in this habitat. Data that can document time trends on C. murellensis and co-occurring habitat-specific fungi are completely lacking. Finally, more documentation on the degree of decline of the habit itself is needed.
