Book of Abstracts (PDF) - International Mycological Association

IMC7 Tuesday August 13th Lectures
104 - Biodiversity of arthropod-associated fungi: What
do we know? What can we predict?
A. Weir 1* , M. Hughes 1 , M.M. White 2 , M.J. Cafaro 2 , S.-O.
Suh 3 & M. Blackwell 3
1 Faculty of Environmental & Forest Biology, SUNY
College of Environmental Science & Forestry, 350 Illick
Hall, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse NY 13210, U.S.A. -
2 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
University of Kansas, Room 8002 Haworth Hall,
Lawrence, KS 66045, U.S.A. - 3 Department of Biological
Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
70803, U.S.A. - E-mail: aweir@syr.edu
One of the greatest uncertainties in attempting to estimate
global species richness of fungi is being able to draw
inferences from the known number of taxa associated with
hyperdiverse groups such as arthropods. Knowledge of the
diversity and biogeography of these interactions is
improving, but for many groups remains an imprecise
foundation for extrapolation. Arthropods and fungi are
closely associated in nearly all types of terrestrial,
freshwater, and marine environments. Here we discuss only
those fungi that use arthropods as a resource. Associations
along the mutualist-pathogen continuum vary, and these as
well as life history traits are discussed for each major group
of fungi in relation to their known and potential diversity.
We review the current state of knowledge regarding
diversity, host relations, and biogeography of
Laboulbeniales, Trichomycetes, Entomophthorales,
Septobasidium, Cordyceps, and endosymbiotic yeasts. For
the most diverse and one of the best biogeographicallystudied
groups, Laboulbeniales, patterns of diversity and
host utilization at different geographical scales are
analyzed. On the bases of these datasets, species discovery
patterns and host associates, and the latest estimates of
global insect species richness, we extrapolate as to the
potential magnitude of the biodiversity of insect associated
fungi and discuss ways in which the estimates may be
refined. We also address the major lacunae that require
coordinated effort from systematists.
105 - Fungal diversity: Estimates, predictions and
future challenges
J.P. Schmit 1* , G.M. Mueller 2 & R. Courtecuisse 3
1 Dept. of Plant Biology, Unvirsity of Illinois, 265 Morrill
Hall, 605 S. Goodwin, Urbana, IL 61801, U.S.A. - 2 Dept. of
Botany, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S
Lakeshore Dr. Chicago, IL 60605, U.S.A. - 3 Dept. de
Botanique, Univ. de Lille, B.P. 83, FR-59006, Lille Cedex,
France. - E-mail: jpschmit@life.uiuc.edu
This presentation summarizes the data from the other
presentations in this symposium. Based on that
information, we present an estimate of the total number of
fungal species currently known to science. We also make a
conservative estimate of the number of fungi yet to be
discovered. This is done by using data from geographic
regions which are relatively well explored for fungi to
estimate the number of new taxa yet to be found in poorly
known areas. We also identify where there are gaps in our
knowledge, both geographically and taxonomically.
106 - Comparative methods for managing phylogenetic
uncertainty
M. Pagel
Reading University, AMS, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AJ,
England, U.K. - E-mail: m.pagel@rdg.ac.uk
Comparative analyses across species must be based upon
good phylogenetic information to distinguish similarity that
arises from common ancestry from that which arises from
parallel or convergent evolution. This means that
phylogenies are necessary for studying ancestral states, for
calculating rates of evolution, and for investigating
correlations among two or more traits. I will briefly
describe these sorts of analyses, giving examples, then go
on to describe a difficulty that arises in comparative
studies. The difficulty is that phylogenies are seldom
known with certainty and different phylogenies can give
different answers to the comparative question. A relatively
new technique in comparative studies make it possible to
take phylogenetic uncertainty into account. Bayesian
methods for inferring phylogenies, based upon Markov
Chain Monte Carlo methods, allow the investigator to draw
a random sample of phylogenetic trees, from the universe
of possible trees. The comparative hypothesis can then be
tested in each tree, in effect, removing phylogenetic
uncertainty from the hypothesis. These methods are
becoming increasingly easy and practical to implement on
desktop computers. I give examples from several areas of
research.
107 - Major fungal lineages are derived from lichen
symbiotic ancestors
F. Lutzoni 1* , M. Pagel 2 & V. Reeb 1
1 Duke University, Department of Biology, Box 90338,
Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A. - 2 University of Reading,
School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, Whiteknights,
Reading, U.K. - E-mail: flutzoni@duke.edu
About one-fifth of all known extant fungal species form
lichen symbioses. Lichens are widely believed to have
arisen independently on multiple occasions, accounting for
the high diversity and mixed occurrence of lichenized and
non-lichenized (42% and 58%, respectively) fungal species
within the Ascomycota. Depending on the taxonomic
classification chosen, 15-18 orders of the Ascomycota
include lichen-forming taxa, and 8-11 of these orders
(representing about 60% of the Ascomycota species)
Book of Abstracts 35