Phylloporia minuta
Phylloporia minuta. Photo: Felipe Bittencourt.
Phylloporia minuta is a small polypore species that is considered a parasite. It is found growing on Doliocarpus schottianus in coastal regions of the southern and southeastern Atlantic Forest. The species was described in 2018 based on collections in Blumenau municipality, inside an urban area. P. minuta has been collected again only once, on the same host, in Joinville municipality, also at Santa Catarina state. Thus, the species is considered rare throughout its range, with just 11 collections in two sites. It is expected that P. minuta occurs along with its host distribution, which is endemic to coastal Atlantic Forest areas. Due to its rarity, it is estimated that the species population has no more than 8000 mature individuals, distributed along coastal Atlantic Forest. The Atlantic Forest is threatened mainly by historical deforestation and human occupation, as well as the ongoing fragmentation and degradation of this biome. Therefore, P. minuta is considered Vulnerable (VU) under IUCN criterion C2a(ii).
References:
- Bittencourt, F., Kossmann, T., Martins da Cunha, K., Leopoldo, E., Gumboski, E.L. & Drechsler-Santos, E. 2021. Phylloporia minuta. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T196135686A198498944. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.20212.RLTS.T196135686A198498944.en. Downloaded on 05 October 2021.
