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Phellinotus xerophyticus Robledo, Urcelay & Drechsler-Santos

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Scientific name
Phellinotus xerophyticus
Author
Robledo, Urcelay & Drechsler-Santos
Common names
 
IUCN Specialist Group
Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Basidiomycota
Class
Agaricomycetes
Order
Hymenochaetales
Family
Hymenochaetaceae
Assessment status
Published
Assessment date
2023-02-08
IUCN Red List Category
VU
IUCN Red List Criteria
A4ce
Assessors
Maubet, Y., Campi, M.G., Niveiro, N., Pelissero, D., Sánchez, R., Ranieri, C., Hernandez Caffot, M.L., Robledo, G. & Torres, D.
Reviewers
Drechsler-Santos, E. & Martins da Cunha, K.

Assessment Notes

The content on this page is fetched from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/238221155/245223535

Justification

Phellinotus xerophyticus is a polypore species, parasitic and likely host specific on Prosopis sp. Currently the species is known from five specimens in the ecoregion of Dry Chaco in Argentina and Paraguay. Its range is estimated to follow that of its host’s, restricted to the Chaco (Argentina and Paraguay, possibly Bolivia). The Chaco has been suffering a rapid decline in the last 50 years, mainly due to deforestation for cattle ranching, soybean cultivation and anthropogenic related fire. Between 1985 and 2013, around 20% of the Chaco forests has been converted to grasslands and croplands with associated use of pesticides (Romero-Muñoz et al. 2018), and this loss is projected to maintain or even increase in the next 13 years. A population size reduction of the fungal species of at least 40% or more in 50 years (1985-2035) (three generations based on the phenology of the host tree) is suspected due to past and ongoing loss and degradation of suitable habitat in the Chaco (Romero-Muñoz et al. 2019). Therefore this species is assessed as Vulnerable under criterion A4ce.

Geographic range

The species has been found exclusively on Prosopis spp. within the Dry Chaco ecoregion, with five records from three sites in Argentina and Paraguay. The type specimen and one additional collection were described from Reserva Provincial Chacani, Córdoba, Argentina. Additional specimens were identified from Filadelfia city, Paraguay and another specimen was collected from Cerro Cabrera, Paraguay near the geographic limits between Paraguay and Bolivia. So, it is expected to occur also in Bolivia.

Population and Trends

The species is known from five records at three sites in Argentina and Paraguay, also it is expected to occurs in Bolivia. There are an estimated of 6,000-10,000 potential sites throughout its potential distribution within the Chaco region, each expected to contain no more than 20 mature individuals. The total population size is estimated at between 60,000 to 100,000 mature individuals distributed in one subpopulation.

The population is suspected to have declined 20% in the past 28 years (1985-2013), due to the loss of forest coverage for cattle ranching and soybean cultivation (Romero-Muñoz et al. 2019), as well as human provoked prescribed fires. There is a suspected population size reduction of equal to or more than 20% from 2013 to 2035 (22 years) if the rates of forest coverage lost in the past decade (1999-2010, per Carranza et al. 2014) remain. Due to the disappearance of forest coverage in the Gran Chaco domain, a loss in habitat area and quality of at least 40% (from 1985 to 2035 - three generations; Dahlberg and Mueller 2011) is conservatively suspected.

Population Trend: decreasing


Habitat and Ecology

The species is parasitic and likely host specific on Prosopis sp. Its range is estimated to follow that of its host’s, restricted to the Chaco (Argentina and Paraguay, possibly Bolivia).

Threats

The Chaco has been suffering a rapid decline in the last 50 years, mainly due to deforestation for cattle ranching and soybean cultivation (Fehlenberg et al. 2017, Romero-Muñoz et al. 2019). Currently, the Chaco ecoregion is considered a global deforestation hotspot (Hansen et al. 2013, Baumann et al. 2017, Kuemmerle et al. 2017) and between 1985 and 2013, around 20% of the Chaco forests has been converted to grasslands and croplands (Romero-Muñoz et al. 2019). This loss is suspected to continue or even increase in the next 13 years. The use of pesticides for cultivation of soy and the fires for clearing forest for cattle ranching are the biggest threats to the species and its habitat.

Conservation Actions

The main action to preserve Phellinotus xerophyticus is the preservation of the Great Chaco along with its host plant, the establishment of protected Conservation Areas, the careful administration of the existing ones, and the restoration of lost habitat area whenever possible. In addition, the translocation of cultivated specimens could also be performed together with the restoration of the species habitat. The enforcement of current legislation would be very important to reach these goals in addition to the cooperation between the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock and those of Environment and Sustainable Development in the countries in which the species occurs. Furthermore, preventing the urbanization process and the advance of cattle ranching and agriculture is needed to mitigate the damage of the remnant forests. Further research is needed including more collections to increase knowledge about its distribution, biology and host specificity. In vitro cultivation should be tested in order to enable to ex situ conservation for possible future translocation.

Use and Trade

There are no known uses for this species.

Source and Citation

Maubet, Y., Campi, M.G., Niveiro, N., Pelissero, D., Sánchez, R., Ranieri, C., Hernandez Caffot, M.L., Robledo, G. & Torres, D. 2023. Phellinotus xerophyticus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023: e.T238221155A245223535. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T238221155A245223535.en .Accessed on 6 January 2025

Country occurrence