Abstract:

A red list assessment of macrofungi was performed to determine the threatened status of known macro-basidiomycetes in China. Forty-five species were considered threatened, with species classified as either Possibly Extinct (PE), Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) or Vulnerable (VU). These species account for 0.72% of the 6,268 macro-basidiomycete species. More than one-third of the threatened species are edible or medicinal fungi, and most of them are uncultivable, meaning they only grow in the wild. The threatened basidiomycete species are mainly distributed across Southwest and Northeast China. The main threats to these species are shrinking and destruction of habitat caused by human activities, although excessive picking is a major threat for the edible and medicinal species. However, there were insufficient data for 4,251 macro-basidiomycetes species, 67.82% of all species, which suggests that this red list assessment is incomplete.

Key words: fungi, red list, threatened species, edible or medicinal fungi