INVENTORY OF FLORA AND FAUNA OF MYANMAR:
A FRONTIER OF ASIAN BIODIVERSITY

What are mushrooms?

Mushrooms are the organisms that belong to the Kingdom Fungi along with molds, yeasts, and lichens. It is one of the most diverse groups in the terrestrial ecosystems. The number of described species is ca. 100,000, but the true diversity, including undescribed and undiscovered species, is estimated to be more than 1 million. The term “mushroom” is an informal group name of fungi that produce large enough fruitbodies (sexual structures; also known as fruiting bodies or fruit-bodies) which are visible to naked eyes. The majority of typical “mushrooms” belong to the class Agaricomycetes in the phylum Basidiomycota (e.g., agarics, boletes, puffballs and stinkhorns), but there are also many mushrooms in the phylum Ascomycota and other groups (e.g., cup fungi, earth tongue and morels). The true diversity of mushrooms is unknown, but it is estimated to be no less than 100,000 species, of which only ca. 20,000 species have been formally described.

Fieldworks for studying mushrooms

Fieldwork for mushrooms is traditionally conducted by collecting fruitbodies. Most mushrooms can be collected directly by hands or by using a knife. Some hypogeous (below-ground) mushrooms should be collected by using a garden rake to remove the surface litter layer. Most mushrooms grow on specific substrates, such as soil, wood, litters, etc. It is therefore very important to focus on particular substrate types, depending on the group of mushrooms you are interested in. Many mushrooms are also known as ectomycorrhizal (forming mutualistic association with trees), and they grow only under or near their ectomycorrhizal partners. In Myanmar, many ectomycorrhizal mushrooms can be observed in Dipterocarpaceae, Fagaceae and Pinaceae forests. After coming back to the lab, color photographs of all collections should be taken. Small pieces of mushroom tissues can be collected and stored in DNA preservation buffer for future DNA studies if necessary. It is worth mentioning that DNA sequence data are becoming indispensable for taxonomic, ecological and diversity studies of mushrooms. All collections should be dried overnight to several days with medium heat (ca. 50°C) and good air circulation. For such purpose, using a food dehydrator is ideal, but you can also build your own drying system using a compact heater and cardboard box, for example. Well-dried specimens should be stored in the herbarium with specimen labels, describing all the details of the collection data. Any contact with high heat, moisture and insects should be avoided for a long-term storage of fungal specimens.

Mushroom inventory in Myanmar

The most comprehensive list of mushrooms in Myanmar was published by Thaung (2007), listing ca. 180 species. Since then, no intensive surveys on mushrooms have been conducted until Hosaka (National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan), Linn and Aung (Forest Research Institute, Myanmar) started their work in 2016. More than 400 additional specimens of mushroom were collected by them, including many new records from Myanmar (e.g., Hosaka et al., 2019). Mushroom inventory in Myanmar is still at very preliminary stage and many new records and species remain to be described.