Biodiv Sci ›› 2020, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (1): 4-10.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2019173

• Editorial • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Development of red list assessment of macrofungi in China

Yijian Yao1,*(),Jiangchun Wei1,2,Wenying Zhuang1,Lei Cai3,Dongmei Liu4,Junsheng Li4,Tiezheng Wei1,Yi Li5,Ke Wang1,2,Haijun Wu1   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
    3. Department of Nature and Ecology Conservation, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing 100035
    4. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Regional Eco-process and Function Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012
    5. School of Food Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225127
  • Received:2019-05-24 Accepted:2019-07-02 Online:2020-01-20 Published:2019-09-30
  • Contact: Yijian Yao

Abstract:

Macrofungi are important with both their ecological and socioeconomic values. Due to environmental pollution, climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation, and over-exploitation of resources, the diversity of macrofungi is under serious threatened. To evaluate the threatened status of macrofungi nationwide in China, the project of “Red List Assessment of Macrofungi in China” was officially launched in 2016 by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (formerly the Ministry of Environmental Protection) in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Based on extensive and comprehensive collection of literature on the occurrence and distribution of macrofungi in China, and referring to the categories and criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species, the evaluation methods and process of the Red List of China's macrofungi were formulated according to the biological features of macrofungi and the current understanding of macrofungi in China. Experts on macrofungi around China were mobilized and organized to assess the threatened status of 9,302 species of macrofungi reported in China. Ninety-seven species are considered under threatened (including Possibly Extinct, Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable), accounting for 1.04% of the total number of species assessed; 101 species are Near Threatened, 2,764 species are Least Concern and 6,340 species are Data Deficient, occupying 1.09%, 29.71% and 68.16%, successively, of the species assessed. The assessment, which brings together the wisdom of more than 140 experts all over the country, is the first nationwide attempt to assess the threaten status of macrofungi in China, involving the largest number of macrofungal species, the widest range of macrofungal groups, the widest coverage of distribution area and the largest number of expert participants at home and abroad. It is of great significance to the conservation and management of the diversity of macrofungi in China.

Key words: macrofungi, IUCN Categories and Criteria, red list