Fomitiporia nubicola
Fomitiporia nubicola. Photo: G. Alves-Silva.
Fomitiporia nubicola is a wood-inhabiting bracket fungus, so far found exclusively on living and dead trees of Drimys angustifolia. This species is potentially distributed in other Cloud Forest areas, inside the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Fomitiporia nubicola and D. angustifolia are found in small and fragmented patches of Cloud Forests, highly sensible and threatened environments, especially to climate change, as they rely on a unique microclimate. Anthropogenic activities are also a threat to F. nubicola and its habitats, such as cattle grazing, invasive species, and fire. The species was previously assessed as Vulnerable based on known information regarding the species distribution and biology. However, recent targeted efforts (2021-2023) have shown that the species is rarer than expected, and have a more restricted and fragile population than previously thought. As tropical montane cloud forests are threatened by climate change and, in southern Brazil, also by cattle grazing, anthropogenic fire, and land use change, together with new information regarding the species population, F. nubicola was reassessed as Critically Endangered. This was the first fungal reassessment in the IUCN Global Red List history.
F. nubicola distribution map. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/187001148/187004600.
References
- Alves-Silva, G., Kossmann, T., Titton, M., Bittencourt, F., Funez, L., Canteiro, C. & Monteiro, M. 2023. Fomitiporia nubicola. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023: e.T187001148A245516895. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T187001148A245516895.en. Accessed on 22 December 2023.
