Checklist of Mushrooms of Mt. Cleopatra Needle Forest Reserve in Palawan Island, Philippines

Introduction

The Palawan island is located in the southwest of the Philippines close to Borneo, to which once was connected. Palawan has received international recognition by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve and it contains two World Heritage Sites. Nevertheless, the island remains relatively understudies and its forests are currently diminishing quickly. Mt. Cleopatra Needle Forest Reserve (CNFR), one of the oldest and most diverse forests in the Philippines, is located at the northeastern region from Puerto Princesa, the capital city of Palawan island of Philippines. (latitude 10^o15’9^o00’N, longitude 118^o99’4^o62’E). The 38,693 ha CNFR is part of the Cleopatra’s Needle Mountain, the city’s highest peak with an altitude of 1,593 m. This area is a real biological resources repository as well as the last safe haven for countless endemic species. And it serve as the most important watershed of Puerto Princesa, and the area plays an important role as a corridor between the remaining forest in the southern and northern parts of the island. For this reasons, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), a multi-sectoral and inter-government body, in collaboration with the Centre for Sustainability, proposed a resolution designating Mt. Cleopatra’s Needle as a critical habitat according to the Republic Act 9147, which is also known as the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. This Act defined a critical habitat as a portion of land outside a protected area that is characterized by the presence of threathened species, considering its endemicity and richness in the area as well as the presence of threats to its survival. This survey was conducted to understand fungal species divesity in this forest area, and thus provide the obtained information in developing the biodiversity conservation strategies for this area.

Materials and Methods

1. Survey sites

Three sites including Concepcion, Kalakwasan, Tanabag Barangays in Cleopatra Needle Forest Mountain were surveyed for mushrooms collection (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Map of Palawan island (red color) in Philippines and Mt. Cleopatra Needle Forest Reserve (CNFR) for mushroom diversity survey.

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Results and Discussion

Four hundreds and thirty three mushroom specimens were collected from three survey sites of CNFR from 2018 to 2019, and then they were identified and classified into 176 species, 114 genera, 55 families, and 22 orders by morphological and molecular analyses (Figure 2). The mushrooms belongs to Ascomycota were classified into 20 species, 15 genera, 12 families, and 7 orders while those belongs to Basidiomycota were classified into 156 species, 99 genera, 43 families, and 15 orders, respectively (Table 1, 2). Among these mushrooms, the most frequently collected families are Polyporaceae (18.9%), Marasmiaceae (11.5%), Xylariaceae (9.7%), Agaricaceae (8.3%), Auriculariaceae (4.8%), Ganodermataceae (3.9%), Hypoxylaceae (3.2%), and Sarcoscyphaceae (3.2%), and comprised 63.7% of the total specimens identified (Table 3). Mushroom diversity survey in Philippines have been mainly focused and conducted in many Luzon areas, the biggest island of the country, and numerous reports have been published since 2000 (Alzeus et al., 2018; Angeles et al., 2016; Arenas et al., 2015; 2018; De Leon et al., 2012; 2013; 2016; Lazo et al., 2015; Musngi et al., 2005; Paquit and Pampolina, 2017; Quimio, 2001; Reyes and Nair, 2016; Sibounnavong et al., 2008; Tadiosa et al., 2011; Tadiosa and Briones, 2013), but no reports on mushroom diversity except the report on ascomycetous fungi (Sydow, 1912) have been found in Palawan island so far. Thus, this report may be the first checklist of mushrooms in Mt. Cleopatra Needle Forest Reserve, and could be used for developing conservation strategies of the critical habitat in Palawan island.

Figure 2. Diverse mushrooms with various shape collected from Mt. Cleopatra Needle Forest Reserve (CNFR) in Palawan island, Philippines. A: Dacrymyces chrysospermus Berk. & M.A. Curtis, B: Lycoperdon pyriforme Schmach, (C) Leucocoprinus cepaestipes (Sowerby) De Leon, Kalaw, Dulay, Undan, Alfonzo, Undan & Reyes, D: Pluteus cervinus (Schaeff.) P. Kumm., E: Cookeina sulcipes (Berk.) Kuntze, F: Hysterium angustatum Alb. & Schwein., G: Cookeina tricholoma (Mont.) Kuntze, H: Microporus xanthopus (Fr.) Kuntze, I: Amauroderma rude (Berk.) Torrend, J: Coltricia cinnamomea (Jacq.) Murrill, K: Lignosus rhinocerus (Cooke) Ryvarden, L: Cymatoderma elegans Jungh, M: Marasmius arborescens (Henn.) Beeli, N: Dictyophora duplicata (Bosc) E. Fisch., O: Xylaria allantoides (Berk.) Fr., P: Clavulinopsis corallinorosacea (Cleland) Corner, Q: Galiella rufa (Schwein.) Nannf. & Korf, R: Mutinus bambusinus (Zoll.) E. Fisch.

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