Diversity and biological characteristics of macrofungi of district Bajaur, a remote area of Pakistan in the Hindu Kush range

Abstract

The present study was carried out to document the diversity and ecological characteristics of macrofungi of Bajaur, Pakistan. The diversity of macrofungi comprised 51 species belonging to 22 families and 37 genera. The families Agaricaceae (7 species) and Psathyrellaceae (7 species) were found dominant followed by Tricholomataceae (4 species), Fomitopsidaceae and Polyporaceae (4 species each) and Amanitaceae (3 species). White (23 species), brown (11 species), and yellow were the most prevalent morphological colours in basidiocarps (8 species). Among the identified species, 32 were saprophytic in nutrition followed by 7 parasitic, 6 saprophytic and parasitic both, while 6 mycorrhizal that make association with higher plants. The distribution of macrofungal species in the three tehsils of Bajaur was also evaluated based on Shannon diversity index, Simpson diversity index and evenness. The highest Shannon diversity index and Simpson diversity index were found for tehsil Utman Kheil at 3.73 and 0.97, while the maximum value of evenness for tehsil Khar with 0.92 value. The results indicate a very high species richness of the study site. Four species out of the total were identified to be new reports from Pakistan. This survey's findings suggested that there is a wide variety of macrofungi that might be used as food and alternative medications if further research is carried out.