Pyrenomycetes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and their biogeographic relationships with East Asian relatives
Pyrenomycetes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and their biogeographic relationships with East Asian relatives
Pyrenomycetous fungi are morphologically and biologically diverse and occur in virtually all ecosystems, where they are important as decomposers. Their anamorphs (asexual states) include many industrially beneficial fungi as well as agents of some of the most devastating plant and animal diseases. A number of species are restricted to eastern North America, where remnants of the ancient Tertiary flora persisted, or also occur where similar fragments of this flora are found in eastern Asia. Such a distribution (referred to as the famous “Asa Gray disjunction”) has not been studied previously in pyrenomycetes. The focus on the proposed project is on continuing my efforts to document the species of pyrenomycetes that occur in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Specimens collected in the Park will be compared with those already known from eastern Asia to assess the taxonomic and biogeographical relationships of the species involved.
Summary: Pyrenomycetous fungi are known from virtually all ecosystems where they are important as decomposer organisms. The previous studies revealed 82 species of this group in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As the result of current investigations, the number of species in the Park increased up to 198. Several new species (Allantoporthe leucothöes, Amphirosellinia tenesseennsis, Chlorostroma subcubisporum, Diatrype atlantica, D. montana) were described in a series of publications. The thorough study of species having the eastern Asia - eastern North America disjunction in their distribution helped to solve some taxonomic problems. In particular, the new species Nemania pseudoillita, Nectria asiatica and Pyrenomyxa morganii from eastern Asia was described on the basis of comparisons with material from eastern North America, especially from the Park.
