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Lactifluus caatingae Sá & Wartchow

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Scientific name
Lactifluus caatingae
Author
Sá & Wartchow
Common names
cogumelo tampa-de-leite
IUCN Specialist Group
Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Basidiomycota
Class
Agaricomycetes
Order
Russulales
Family
Russulaceae
Assessment status
Published
Assessment date
2024-02-21
IUCN Red List Category
EN
IUCN Red List Criteria
A3c
Assessors
Calaça, F., Costa-Rezende, D.H., Alves-Silva, G., Baltazar, J., Canêz, L. & Monteiro, M.
Reviewers
Drechsler-Santos, E.R., Martins da Cunha, K. & Mueller, G.M.

Assessment Notes

The content on this page is fetched from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/265909540/265910663

Justification

Lactifluus caatingae is known only from three collections from one site in the Brazilian Caatinga near the municipality of Caracol, Parque Nacional da Serra das Confusões, a national reserve located in the State of Piauí, northeastern Brazil, based on both morphological and molecular evidence (Sá et al. 2019). Given that it has medium to high detectability due to its rusty-brown to brownish-orange gregarious basidiomes that contrast with sandy soils and dry forests, and that extensive fungal surveys in northeastern Brazil have been carried out, it is expected that the species is restricted to Caatinga (Fernandez et al. 2020) and the specific epithet refers to the Caatinga biome where it has been found.

 Although about half of the biome's vegetation cover remains, the remnants are fragmented due to rural development, subsistence crops, pastures, or agroforestry systems (Antongiovanni et al. 2020, IBGE 2020). The main threats to the species are the degradation and loss of habitat quality, including desertification, increased fire, alteration of biogeochemical cycles caused by changes in land use and cover in the Caatinga, opening of roads which can cause impacting edge effects in up to 15 km into the vegetation, and other anthropogenic uses of the ecosystem (Santos and Tabarelli 2002, Ribeiro et al. 2016, Antongiovanni et al. 2020). A population decline of at least 50% is suspected for L. caatingae over the next three generations (30-50 years) due to the loss of suitable habitat area (Beuchle et al. 2015, Câmara et al. 2015) and the putative influence that habitat degradation has on species occupation in a given environment (Berglund and Jonsson 2005, Haddad et al. 2015). Thus L. caatingae is assessed as Endangered (EN), under criterion A3c.

Geographic range

The species is currently known only from Caatinga, a biome restricted to Brazil characterized by being compposed of a mosaic of spinose shrubs mixed with seasonally dry forests. Lactifluus caatingae has been found growing scattered on sandy soil in a seasonally deciduous broadleaved forest, in the municipality of Caracol, at 'Parque Nacional da Serra das Confusões', a national reserve located in the State of Piauí, northeastern Brazil, which covers the municipalities of Alvorada do Gurguéia, Canto do Buriti, Caracol, Cristino Castro, Guaribas, Jurema and Tamboril do Piauí. It is predicted that this species can reach other parts of Caatinga and the ecotones bordering the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes.

Population and Trends

The species is known only from three collections from one site (Sá et al. 2019) in the Brazilian Caatinga even though it has medium to high detectability due to its rusty-brown to brownish-orange gregarious basidiomes that contrast with sandy soils and dry forests, and extensive fungal surveys in northeastern Brazil have been carried out. Given the uniqueness and high-level of plant endemism of the Caatinga biome, and the probability of Lactifluus caatingae being an ectomycorrhizal species like other species in the genus, we expect it to be restricted to this ecosystem (Rocha et al. 2004, Fernandez et al. 2020). Only 200 to 400 potential sites are estimated to occur throughout its assumed range, each of them supporting up to 60 mature individuals resulting in an estimated population of L. caatingae of around 12,000 to 24,000 mature individuals, restricted to one subpopulation.

A population decline of at least 50% is suspected for L. caatingae over the next three generations (30-50 years) due to the loss of suitable habitat (Beuchle et al. 2015, Câmara et al. 2015) and given the assumed influence that habitat degradation has on species occupation in a given environment (Berglund and Jonsson 2005, Haddad et al. 2015).

Population Trend: decreasing


Habitat and Ecology

Lactifluus caatingae was described as a gregarious species occurring in sandy soils in a seasonally deciduous broadleaved forest in the Brazilian Caatinga domain. Lactifluus is a predominantly tropical ectomycorrhizal (ECM) genus (De Crop et al. 2021). Plant genera that are considered to be ectomycorrhizal occur in the region where L. caatingae was collected. So, it is reasonable to suppose that this species can establish ECM associations as part of its trophic strategy.

Threats

It is estimated that between 24% to 51% of the dry forest that makes up the Caatinga could be deforested by 2050 (the next 30 years). Considered a biologically "poor" ecosystem in the past, the Caatinga has been neglected for a long time, without effective conservation measures. Until 2010, about 63% of the natural vegetation cover remained in the biome (Beuchle et al. 2015). In 2018, grassland vegetation predominated in the biome (46.8%), with only 5.6% of its territory under anthropic uses in the form of managed pasture, due to the limitation of economic activities given its semi-arid climate. Although about half of the biome's vegetation cover remains, the remnants are fragmented by the presence of rural urbanization, subsistence crops, pasture, and agroforestry systems (Antongiovanni et al. 2020, IBGE 2020). The main threats to the species are degradation and loss of habitat quality, including desertification, increased fire, the alteration of biogeochemical cycles caused by changes in land use and cover in the Caatinga, the opening of roads, which can cause edge effects in up to 15 km into the vegetation, as well as other anthropogenic uses of the ecosystem (Santos and Tabarelli 2002, Ribeiro et al. 2016, Antongiovanni et al. 2020).

Conservation Actions

The main required conservation actions include the management and maintenance of the protected area where the species can be found, along with developing conservation plans to ensure the protection of Caatinga. More surveys in suitable areas for the occurrence of the species should be explored to determine the extent of its geographic distribution within the Caatinga biome and possibly in other biomes such as Cerrado. Furthermore, there is a need to investigate its potential mycorrhizal relationship with native plants. Investigation of its edibility, as observed in other species of the genus, is also necessary.

Use and Trade

No use/trade is known. This may be another edible species in the genus Lactifluus, however, edibility studies are needed.

Source and Citation

Calaça, F., Costa-Rezende, D.H., Alves-Silva, G., Baltazar, J., Canêz, L. & Monteiro, M. 2024. Lactifluus caatingae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T265909540A265910663. .Accessed on 29 October 2024

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