Edible mushroom sporocarp availability in pine-oak forests in Ixtlán de Juárez, Oaxaca

Abstract

Wild edible mushrooms are non timber forest products whose sustainable use must have an ecological basis. In this work, we measured the availability of 81 edible mushrooms by means of their abundance, frequency, biomass production, temporal and spatial distribution of their fruiting bodies. These variables were integrated into an ecological importance index (IV) which describes sporome availability in the forest. The research was carried out during 2001 and 2002 in the Pinus-Quercus forests of Ixtlán de Juárez, Oaxaca. The most abundant species were Laccaria laccata var. pallidifolia, Gymnopus confluens and Laccaria vinaceobrunnea. Laccaria laccata var. pallidifolia was the most productive species with an estimated total productivity of 2.21 Kg/sampling site. Only G. confluens and G. dryophilus were observed in all sampling dates, from June to October. Species with the highest total availability were L. laccata var. pallidifolia, G. confluens, L. vinaceobrunnea and H. purpurascens. In the communal property of Ixtlán, wild edible mushroom diversity is high (96 species); however, their availability is heterogeneous (from L. laccata var. pallidifolia IV = 0.7905, to Helvella infula IV = 0.0055). Within the forest, between sites relatively close to one another, species composition was different and their abundance and productivity were contrasting.