Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Section B. Biological Sciences

Table of Contents - Volume 104, Essays on the Ecology of the Guinea-Congo Rain Forest - 1996  

Research Article

Saprotrophic fungi of the Guinea–Congo Region

T. Laessøea1, L. Ryvardena2, Roy Watlinga3 and A. J. S. Whalleya4

a1 Institute for Sporeplanter, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

a2 Department of Botany, University of Oslo, Norway

a3 Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, U.K.

a4 School of Biomolecular Sciences, John Moore's University, Liverpool, U.K.

Synopsis

A window onto the vast array of saprotrophic fungi found in West Central Africa with particular reference to the Cameroon attempted in this paper. After an overview (Watling) three diverse groups are taken as examples of this array: xylariaceous fungi (Laessøe, Whalley & Watling); polypores (Ryvarden & Watling) and lepiotoid fungi (Watling). Some comparisons are made with other tropical forests. This approach contrasts a lignicolous group in the ascomycetes with one in the basidiomycetes and contrasts terricolous lepiotoid agarics with polyporaceous terricolous and lignicolous fungi.