Pheno-biological Diversity of Leaf Litter Macrofungi in Some Forests of West Bengal

By : Gouri Das, Parichay Chakraborty

Page No: 139-150

Abstract
In forest ecology and biodiversity, macrofungi occupy important place. Apart from soil nutrients, pH, soil moisture, depth of litter on the forest floor, a number of factors influence diversity of litter fungi as litter decomposition is a highly complex process mediated by various fungal taxa. In the present study physical and chemical attributes of leaf litter from different tree species in the forests of Dakshin Dinajpur district, West Bengal were observed and an assemblage of 11 macrofungal taxa belonging to 7 different families like Agaricaceae, Amanitaceae, Tricholomataceae, Omphalotaceae Marasmiaceae, Aphelariaceae, Psathyrellaceae have been found. These macrofungi were collected from Danga, Dogachhi, Kasiadanga, Barakasipur of Balurghat beat and Abhirampur, Asair, Erenda forestof Tapan beat. This investigation being the pioneering one in this area, also revealed high degree of host and part of the leaf specificity in some cases. The heterogeneity in the abiotic environment may have indirect or direct effect on the distribution of litter fungi in the litter profile. Interestingly, the occurrence of Aphelariaceae (Aphelaria sp.) was restricted to the litter layers of Erenda forest floor only. For systematic random sampling, field trips were conducted at 60 plots with 4 transects during summer, rainy, autumn and spring over last 3 years. All the collected samples were worked out thoroughly, identified and preserved in the laboratory. The data generated in the study will certainly enlighten the domain of mycological diversity of litter fungi.

Authors :
Gouri Das : Department of Botany, Balurghat College, Dakshin Dinajpur, West Bengal.
Parichay Chakraborty : Department of Botany, Balurghat, Dakshin Dinajpur, West Bengal.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/JPSR.2022.38.01.14