Assessment Notes

Justification

Favolus elongoporus is a conspicuous but rare polypore species described in 2008. It is known from only three records, two in Brazil and another from the southern highlands of Peru. In Brazil, it is known from a lowland seasonal semideciduous forest fragment in the Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil and in the Amazon forest in Pará state. It is expected that the species occurs throughout the Atlantic Forest from northeastern Brazil and up to the Amazon forest in Brazil and neighbouring countries. Despite its high detectability and large sampling efforts focusing on polypore diversity within its known and potential distribution in Brazil, F. elongoporus is known from very few collections and is thus considered a rare species. Even though the area of potential suitable habitat is very large, the species' population is in threat, as it habitat primarily suffers with deforestation and anthropogenic disturbances, including increased fire frequencies and extreme droughts due to climate change in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest regions, translating into an inferred population decline of 36-38% in the past and over the next three generations (50 years). It is therefore listed as Vulnerable under criteria A2c+3c+4c.

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Geographic range

Favolus elongoporus was described based on a single collection found in a lowland semideciduous forest remnant of Atlantic Forest of Brazil (Drechsler-Santos et al. 2008), and is currently known from only three sites: one in the municipality of São Lourenço da Mata in Pernambuco state, where the holotype was collected, at the ‘Estação Ecológica do Tapucará’; the second in the municipality of Oriximinã in Pará state collected by V.L.R. Bononi (INPA103798); and the third close to the Quincemil-Camanti communities in the province of Quispianchis from the department of Cusco, Peru collected by C.A. Salvador Montoya (FLOR47474) (Palacio et al. 2021), the latter two both in the Amazon Forest. The species is expected to be found across the northern Atlantic Forest in Brazil and in the Amazon Forest in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. The core of the population is expected to be distributed in the Amazon, and to a lesser extent, in the Atlantic Forest.

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Population and Trends

Favolus elongoporus is a conspicuous, wood-decaying species with medium to large-sized whitish basidiomata and subgregarious growth, contrasting with its substrate. This species is known from only three sites, one in the Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil, and two in the Amazon Forest in Brazil and Peru. Since this species is conspicuous but is known from only three collections despite large sampling efforts focusing on polypore diversity within its known and potential distribution in Brazil, F. elongoporus is considered a rare species. Additionally, it is expected that its distribution is limited to higher latitudes in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, as historical high sampling effort has been made in southern and southeastern Atlantic Forest regions, where F. elongoporus has never been recorded. Given its rarity across its potential range, it is crucial to investigate the specific biotic and abiotic requirements of the species.

The habitat where it is found is now much rarer than it was in the past, as the Atlantic Forest is now reduced to 28% of what it once was, with the remaining areas being mostly fragmented and not fully mature (Tabarelli et al. 2010, Rezende et al. 2018) and the Amazon is continuously being deforested and degraded, which results in direct population decline and habitat quality loss (Lapola et al. 2023). Considering the size of the Amazon Forest in relation to the northern Atlantic Forest, we consider that the core of the population size to be found in the Amazon, with the Atlantic portion accounting for no more than 10% of total population. This is also considered when calculating any potential population decline. The annual average deforestation of the northern Atlantic Forest was 0.39% between 2012 and 2022. This change is expected to continue at this rate into the future. Based on these data, F. elongoporus is suspected to have declined by 40% in the Atlantic portion over the the past three generations (50 years) and continue at that rate into the future (MapBiomas 2024). For the Amazon Forest portion of its population, a population decline based on loss of habitat and habitat quality due to deforestation is suspected at 36% based on deforestation rates (Zhang et al. 2015). Total population loss over the past and next 50 years (three generations) is suspected to be 36-38%. Population decline was suspected in light of extension loss of suitable habitat and the putative influence that habitat degradation has on species occupation in a given environment (Berglund and Jonsson 2003, Haddad et al. 2015).

Population Trend: decreasing

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Habitat and Ecology

Favolus elongoporus is an annual wood-decaying polypore causing a white-rot in large logs. Basidiomata of this species are found subgregariously on dead wood of unidentified angiosperms. They have only been recorded from a preserved remnant of seasonal semideciduous forest in Pernambuco state from northeastern Brazil, in a disturbed forest patch in the Brazilian Amazon in Pará state, and from the southern highlands of Peru. Considering its rarity, it is possible that this species could have specific biotic or abiotic requirements that are still unknown.

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Threats

In general, the threats to Favolus elongoporus are the degradation and fragmentation of its habitat, which also leads to habitat quality decline. These decline in habitat are mainly due to climate change impacts, logging, and other anthropogenic disturbances of the Amazon and Atlantic Forest in Brazil (e.g. urbanisation, agriculture, fire and invasive species).

The Amazon domain in Brazil suffers from continued deforestation and habitat fragmentation derived mainly by the expansion of cattle and soybean plantations and timber extraction, but also by increased fire frequency and extreme droughts due to climate change (Zhang et al. 2015, Lapola et al. 2023). The Atlantic Forest of Brazil is regarded as a biodiversity hotspot for conservation priorities due to its high diversity, endemism rates, and habitat loss (Myers et al. 2000). Between 2012 and 2022 the northern Brazilian Atlantic Forest has suffered an annual deforestation rate of 0.39%, with evidence for a continuing decline in the same rates (MapBiomas 2024). This phytogeographical domain is estimated to have only 28% of its vegetation remaining, with the remnants being intensely fragmented and composed mostly by secondary forests (Tabarelli et al. 2010, Rezende et al. 2018). About 60% of the Brazilian population lives in the Atlantic Forest, mainly in coastal areas, where the country’s largest cities are located (Rezende et al. 2018). Other threats to the Atlantic Forest include an increase in fire frequency and intensity, the introduction of exotic and invasive species, and the interaction between these factors (Brooks and Balmford 1996, Tabarelli et al. 2006, Pinto et al. 2006).

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Conservation Actions

Direct conservation actions primarily include effective management and maintenance of protected areas where the species is potentially found, along with a robust sustainable framework for conservation plans and economic development in Brazil and other countries with potential habitat. Increased and better monitoring of protected areas should also be conducted to prevent illegal use and occupancy.

Species within Favolus are generally regarded as wood-decay angiosperm generalists but host specificity is poorly investigated for the genus, requiring further studies. While various species of Favolus are regarded as being edible and having the potential for being commercially cultivated, the edibility status of this species remains unknown. Additionally, considering it is only known from three collections and its disjunct distribution (Amazonian Peru, Brazilian Amazon and Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil), new surveys should be made to further elucidate its distribution in Brazil, as well as within the Amazon in other South American countries. In addition to conducting new surveys, efforts should be made to isolate the mycelium of the species for potential ex situ conservation measures. Given its rarity across its potential range, despite decades of sampling efforts, it is crucial to investigate the specific biotic and abiotic requirements of the species for effective conservation strategies.

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Use and Trade

There is no report of the edibility or other known use/trade for basidiomata of Favolus elongoporus

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Source and Citation

Zabin, D., Kossmann, T., Menolli Jr, N. & de Andrade Borges, M. 2024. Favolus elongoporus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T265094649A265152184. .Accessed on 28 October 2024

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• Country occurrence