Publicações

We studied the foliicolous mycobiota
associated with Coussapoa floccosa. This is a tree
belonging to the Cecropiaceae, endemic to the
Brazilian tropical seasonal semideciduous montane
forest. It is listed as an endangered species because of
habitat destruction. Until now no fungus has been
recorded in association with this plant species. This
paper describes six foliicolous fungi associated with
this plant that were collected during a survey of the
mycobiota occurring in a locality where a small
population of C. floccosa was discovered. All fungi
described here are new to science, namely Dennisiella
coussapoae, Mycosphaerella coussapoae, Pseudoallosoma
nervisequens (which also represents a newly proposed
genus), Pseudocercospora coussapoae, Pseudocercospora
atrofuliginosa and Tripospermum acrobaticum. The
high proportion of taxonomic novelties revealed in
this study reflects the general lack of mycological
information for forest ecosystems in Brazil and also
indicates that vulnerable plant species such as C.
floccosa may harbor unique mycobiota. Such mycobiota
may depend on their nearly extinct hosts and
consequently can be equally endangered with extinction
and therefore also deserve consideration for in
situ and ex situ conservation.