Assemblages of fungi associated with cork oak forests in northwestern Tunisia

The cork oak forests of Aïn Draham in northwestern Tunisia are characterized by a rich biodiversity of fungi, including edible, non-edible and toxic species. Sporocarps of 117 species of macrofungi collected from the forests of Jbel el Bir at different elevations were found to represent 26 families of the Agaricomycotina. Selected taxa are described herein, along with information on edibility and ecological importance. Among these there were 33 species of ectomycorrhizal fungi, 10 species of saprotrophic fungi and one species that is parasitic. Molecular identification of fungi from cork oak root-tips revealed the presence of such ectomycorrhizal species as Amanita rubescens, Laccaria bicolor, Lactarius subumbonatus, Cortinarius incisus, and Xerocomus rubellus along with a taxon identified only to genus level as Clavulina sp. Other taxa recorded from the rhizosphere of cork oak included Mortierellales and other mitosporic fungi (e. g., Sarcopodium circinatum).