Diversity and ecology of edible mushrooms from Patagonia native forests, Argentina

Abstract

Forests from the Patagonian Andes of Argentina offer a very interesting although little known and exploited variety of edible wild mushrooms so far. In this work, 12 selected species of wild mushrooms from these forests, which have been reported as edible (Hydropus dusenii, Cyttaria hariotii, Fistulina antarctica, F. endoxantha, Grifola gargal, Cortinarius magellanicus complex, C. xiphidipus, Lepista nuda, Lycoperdon perlatum, Macrolepiota procera, Ramaria patagonica, and Aleurodiscus vitellinus), were investigated. Registers of effective consumption and bibliography on their traditional knowledge were used as a reference, leaving aside some much studied taxa, such as Morchella spp. (Pildain et al., Fungal Biol 118: 755–763, 2014), and some others that were very infrequently detected. We went deep in the study on the ecological and organoleptic characteristics of each species. A brief morphological description, substrates, way of life, and fruiting habits, is presented along with organoleptic characteristics. The ecological analysis included the evaluation of the environmental variables associated with their fructification, phenology, availability, and finding frequency. Species with the longest fruiting period were F. antarctica, R. patagonica, and C. magellanicus complex, from mid-March to mid-May, being also the most frequent, along with C. hariotii. Detection of narrow value ranges for certain environmental variables associated with the fruiting of humic and mycorrhizal species, such as the presence of wood debris, organic matter percentage, mulch distribution, and tree cover, suggests that fruiting of these species would be affected by not necessarily drastic changes of these parameters. Information generated in this work seeks to favor local development by promoting the sustainable use of wild edible mushrooms through innovative activities, such as mycogastronomy and mycotourism, linked with the important tourist profile of Patagonia.