Fungi represent a megadiverse kingdom, and play crucial ecological roles as decomposers of dead organic matter and through biotic interactions as parasites, pathogens and symbionts in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. They are of fundamental importance for carbon cycling in most ecosystems, and directly or indirectly influence the activity and biodiversity of other organisms. Despite their importance, major gaps remain in our understanding of fungal biodiversity and conservation. These include knowledge gaps in taxonomy, biogeography, ecology, traits, trends and sensitivity to environmental change, which are crucial for the success of conservation of fungi, interacting organisms, and entire ecosystems. We also see strong geographic biases in fungal knowledge and expertise, with many presumed biodiversity hotspots vastly understudied and excluded from large-scale initiatives. Partly as a consequence of these gaps, fungi have been underrepresented in biodiversity monitoring programs, conservation planning, and policy frameworks. However, recent methodological advancements, including those in molecular techniques, citizen science, etc. allow for inclusion and upscaling of fungi biodiversity data. The fungal perspective could also provide new ways to think about biodiversity monitoring and conservation, which embrace biotic interactions or the functioning of ecosystems, for instance. In this introductory presentation to the session, we will outline key knowledge gaps and provide guiding questions and concepts for a discussion and to map ways forward to reduce these gaps with improved inclusion and collaboration. We will also introduce important initiatives aimed at addressing some of these knowledge gaps and at developing concepts and experiences. The goal of this introductory presentation is to contextualise the contributions of the session and guide the discussions to support the development of frameworks and concepts needed for effective fungal biodiversity monitoring and conservation, and ultimately to facilitate the integration of fungi in respective programs and policies. Given the increasing awareness of fungi in academia, among land managers, policymakers and society in general, inclusion of fungi in biodiversity monitoring and conservation programs is urgent, relevant, and timely.
How to cite: Canteiro, C., Heilmann-Clausen, J., Drechsler-Santos, E., Ottosson, E., and Bruder, A.: Closing knowledge gaps in fungal biodiversity and its conservation - Introduction to the session, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-736, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-736, 2026.
Fungal diversity in Colombia represents a cornerstone of the country’s biological richness and a fundamental driver of ecosystem functioning. As decomposers, pathogens, parasites, and symbionts, fungi regulate key ecological processes and sustain the dynamics of forests, soils, agroecosystems, and high-Andean environments. Despite their critical roles, large knowledge gaps persist regarding their diversity, distribution, ecology, and conservation status. Consequently, fungi remain underrepresented in biodiversity monitoring programs, conservation planning, and policy frameworks at both national and global scales. Recent international initiatives such as Reverse the Red, and regional efforts including the Colombia Fungal Specialist Group (ColFunSG) and the Species Specialist network of the IUCN SSC, have begun to reveal the ubiquity and ecological significance of fungi, catalyzing the first systematic steps toward their monitoring and protection. These efforts highlight the urgent need to elevate fungi within biodiversity agendas and demonstrate that political and scientific alignment can generate impactful conservation outcomes. In Colombia, progress such as the inclusion of fungal species in national Red Lists, the expansion of citizen-science platforms, the strengthening of regional inventories, and the development of participatory processes with local and rural communities illustrate that meaningful advances occur when science, policy, and conservation action converge. Still, major challenges remain. Colombia lacks standardized monitoring programs dedicated to fungi, faces a shortage of trained taxonomists and ecologists, and must confront the logistical difficulties of sampling highly diverse yet remote ecosystems. Institutional coordination and long-term funding mechanisms also remain insufficient to meet the scale and urgency of fungal conservation needs. Moving forward requires expanding taxonomic and ecological research, harmonizing monitoring protocols, strengthening biological collections, and incorporating novel technologies such as environmental DNA metabarcoding, remote sensing, automated species recognition, biodiversity data platforms, and AI-assisted taxonomic workflows. Equally important is ensuring that these efforts are inclusive and socially equitable, engaging Indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombian communities, farmers, local experts, students, policymakers, and international partners. An inclusive and technologically innovative strategy will not only accelerate fungal discovery and conservation but also enhance the country’s broader biodiversity management and support the sustainable functioning of its ecosystems.
How to cite: Motato-Vásquez, V.: From Blind Spot to Visibility: Advancing the Knowledge and Conservation of Fungal Biodiversity in Colombia , World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-938, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-938, 2026.
Fungi are a taxonomically highly diverse kingdom and have evolved a diversity of lifestyles that perform crucial roles in global ecosystems. However, compared to animals and plants, their biogeographic distribution and community ecology are less understood. A historic lack of research efforts leaves knowledge gaps in macroecology and biogeographic regions such as the Mediterranean and Alpine as well as in host relationships. As a result, fungi remain neglected in the field of conservation biology.
In an effort to shed light on fungal diversity across Europe, 120 researchers from 24 European countries have joined the FunDive project funded by Biodiversa+, the European Biodiversity Partnership. The core objective of the project is to improve the knowledge basis for including fungi in transnationional monitoring and conservation of biodiversity, by engaging citizen scientists, improving tools for fungal identification and analyzing large-scale patterns of fungal diversity, consolidating existing datasets combined with novel sampling. An integral component is the European-wide, multi-substrate sampling of >2000 environmental DNA (eDNA) units across 200 pine forests. Besides soil samples, we also take drill shavings from lying dead wood, and, on a subset of plots, we take sequential air samples capturing spores, and sample sporocarps from soil and wood. These different approaches are expected to yield valuable complementary information but have not yet been combined on such a large scale so far. We focused on forests dominated by either the Euro-Siberian Pinus sylvestris, the Mediterranean P. nigra, or the alpine P. cembra. Using short-read sequencing, we investigate ecological patterns. As an additional effort, we also sequence long-read DNA regions on a subset of samples to compare sequencing methodologies and improve taxonomy. A core research objective will be to better understand the drivers of fungal diversity across Europe, combining regional climatic conditions with local stand-scale characteristics. We will provide an overview of the first results, with an emphasis on comparing fungal diversity assessment methods.
How to cite: Richter, F., Gross, A., Kauserud, H., Richard, F., Dierickx, G., Krah, F.-S., Zibold, M., Mallet, L., Bellanger, J.-M., Ronold, E., and Heilmann-Clausen, J. and the FunDive Consortium: FunDive: Multi substrate monitoring and macroecology of pine forest fungal communities from the Mediterranean Basin to the Arctic Circle, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-740, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-740, 2026.
Invasive mushrooms are hardly studied, but invasive species are an intuitive phenomenon that can facilitate collaboration between biologists and the public. People often respond to invasions by increasing their stewardship of local land and biodiversity. Engaging the public about the dynamics of invasions can also spark highly focused campaigns to increase biodiversity monitoring, often facilitating the adoption of conservation practices to minimize or even prevent additional invasions. Golden oyster mushrooms (GOM; Pleurotus citrinopileatus) are the first example of a widely cultivated and edible fungus which has escaped cultivation and become invasive. Rapidly spreading in North America, it also poses a threat in Europe. GOM has captured popular attention and been extensively featured in the press. As a result, the public is now more aware both that fungi, particularly cultivated mushrooms, can aggressively invade and impact native fungi and that native fungal biodiversity is crucial, vulnerable, and in need of conservation. In the wake of our publication on GOM’s negative ecological impacts, we put out an open call inviting diverse stakeholders that interact with GOM – such as hobbyists, businessowners, foragers, and biodiversity advocates – to share their perspectives on invasive mushrooms and their management moving forward. We have built relationships through our stakeholder conversations and have a broad understanding about the willingness to halt distributing or growing GOM. Our key insights are that stakeholder perspectives on GOM are responsive to scientific evidence, even if it opposes their previously held beliefs. We present GOM as a case study demonstrating the success of applying science communication theory to biodiversity research, public outreach, and stakeholder engagement to achieve the following: 1) break down barriers between academia and the public, 2) build public trust in science, 3) highlight the importance of fungal biodiversity to public audiences, and 4) engage a passionate global community of amateur and professional mycologists in invasive species monitoring and biodiversity conservation. We are now collaborating internationally with European mycologists and stakeholders to prevent GOM’s potential spread in Europe, mirroring the social approach we used with North American publics.
How to cite: Veerabahu, A., Pringle, A., and Brossard, D.: A golden opportunity: Invasive golden oyster mushrooms as a case study for engaging the public in fungal biodiversity monitoring and conservation, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-557, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-557, 2026.
Knowledge gaps in fungal biodiversity not only limit conservation efforts but also progress in other research fields, including invasion science. Biological invasions of fungi and fungus-like organisms can strongly impact native biota and human livelihoods. Non-native pathogens may encounter naïve hosts, potentially causing significant declines in native species and altering communities. Examples include ash dieback in Europe, myrtle rust in the Southern Hemisphere, and chytridiomycosis impacting amphibians worldwide. Co-introduced ectomycorrhizal fungi can facilitate plant invasions, as shown for pines in the Southern Hemisphere, while saprobes influence nutrient cycles. Yet the consequences of fungal invasions for native fungal communities and the ecosystem functions and services they underpin remain largely unexplored.
Invasion science historically focused on plants and vertebrates, and despite fungi increasingly gaining attention, major knowledge shortfalls in species diversity, geographic ranges and hosts hamper this progress. Non-native species checklists are biased towards plant pathogens. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, which, due to their close host association, are expected to have similar introduction pathways, are much less well represented. A global quantification of non-native plant pathogen-host associations indicates that over half of all recorded associations in the pathogens’ non-native ranges involve novel associations with native plants or co-xenic associations with non-native plants that do not co-occur in the pathogen’s native ranges. Strikingly, over 40% of records could not be confidently classified due to insufficient information on pathogen biogeography, also highlighting knowledge gaps regarding hosts in the pathogens’ native range. These may bias estimates of host breadth and host shifts, weaken risk assessments, and propagate into conservation decisions that rely on robust distribution and interaction data.
These examples highlight how missing knowledge on fungal diversity and distribution not only constrains conservation efforts but also the capacity to anticipate and manage biological invasions. Addressing gaps through coordinated monitoring following best practices and standards resulting in interoperable, curated datasets that link occurrence, host associations and biogeographic status metadata will enhance the ability to detect, understand, and mitigate the consequences of fungal invasions. Ultimately, a holistic approach to fungal biodiversity recognizes that conservation and invasion science are mutually dependent: advancing one relies on advancing the other.
How to cite: Schertler, A., Lenzner, B., and Essl, F.: When Fungal Blind Spots Spill Over: How Knowledge Gaps Undermine Invasion Science and Conservation, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-635, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-635, 2026.
In the western part of the Mediterranean basin, millenaries of anthropic pressure have converted landscapes into complex mosaics of habitats in which Quercus ilex forests fragments border on large patches of shrubby degraded vegetation locally called garrigues. While the fungal diversity established in forests have been extensively studied, the ability of plant community to host ectomycorrhizal (EM) diversity after disturbance remains poorly documented.
In these pioneer ecosystems facing severe drought, EM fungal diversity depends on the establishment of highly adapted species from the Cistaceae family, mainly from the Fumana and Helianthemum genera. In order to document the EM fungal diversity in Cistaceae-dominated garrigues, we used a [succession stage x plant species] crossed factor sampling scheme to compare communities established on roots of three species (Fumana ericifolia vs F. thymifolia vs Helianthemum oelandicum subsp. italicum) across three succession stages (dry Cistaceae grasslands vs Cistaceae garrigue vs oak secondary forest).
A dozen of EM root tips were sampled on each of 90 collected plant individuals and the ITS locus was successfully Sanger sequenced on 1036 root apices. Out of the 164 resulting OTUs phylogenetically analyzed, 84 were assigned to the EM guild, and 80% of them remain undescribed (67 taxa). The comparison of EM communities on these contrasted contexts reveals a high EM alpha diversity across succession stages and among host species. Highly stressful environments harbor remarkably rich EM communities, comparable with those from Cistaceae found in forests. We demonstrate that habitat acts as the main filter for EM beta diversity, followed by the identity of the plant host. The composition of EM communities in forests is dominated by corticioid Basidiomycota, while sequestrate Ascomycota account for the majority of taxa in early-successional vegetation stage.
This study sheds lights on the high potential of Mediterranean early-successional habitats for the conservation of a so far poorly known fungal diversity symbiotically associated to drought-tolerant plants submitted to highly selective environmental conditions. From a functional perspective, these extreme habitats and their highly specialized fungal diversity patterns provide ideal case study to explore the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of local hotspots of EM diversity.
How to cite: Mallet, L., Viennois, G., Joly, M., Caraglio, Y., Marcon, E., Bellanger, J.-M., and Richard, F.: Environmental filtering primarily drives the composition of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities during ecological succession in the Mediterranean , World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-853, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-853, 2026.
Freshwater habitats are home to a rich diversity of aquatic fungi, with more than 4000 described species and new taxa continually being identified from across the fungal tree of life. Through interactions with all trophic levels (as decomposers, pathogens, parasites, predators, and endobionts), aquatic fungi are important drivers of ecosystem health and resilience, influencing food web dynamics and the overall functioning of freshwater ecosystems. However, these fungi are largely neglected in existing conservation and monitoring plans and policies. FUNACTION, supported by the Biodiversa+ EU Biodiversity Partnership, is working towards the conservation of aquatic fungi by: 1) performing coordinated sampling/studies within Europe to generate knowledge about the distributions of aquatic fungi and factors driving those distributions; 2) using that knowledge as a basis to inform conservation and monitoring; and 3) raising awareness of aquatic fungal diversity and ecological importance. A ‘hot off the press’ view of aquatic fungal diversity and functioning will be presented—with insights from eDNA metabarcoding and metagenomics, field tests of ecosystem functioning (e.g., organic matter decomposition), and extensive metadata (e.g., water chemistry, land use, climate, and protection status). These data contribute towards the modeling of fungal diversity in relation to environmental and human pressures. They also facilitate the evaluation of existing protections for fungi in freshwater and the development of new guidance for aquatic fungi in conservation. To support uptake of aquatic fungi in conservation and monitoring, FUNACTION has prioritized outreach and the development of diverse global and local stakeholder networks and collaborations (e.g., IUCN SSC Aquatic Fungi Specialist Group, public webinars, and e-learning for hobbyists). Our experiences with this work will be shared to support co-learning. We will highlight approaches that have been effective, as well as the ongoing challenges we face in our work to grow capacity, awareness, and conservation interest in understudied fungi. FUNACTION: https://funaction.eu/.
How to cite: Anderson, J. and the FUNACTION Consortium: Aquatic fungi in conservation: Insights and approaches from FUNACTION, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-812, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-812, 2026.
Aquatic fungi (AF) are key contributors to freshwater ecosystem health, functioning, and resilience. Yet, they have been almost entirely neglected in all major global conservation plans and policies. The FUNACTION project addresses this gap by building the first comprehensive knowledge base on the diversity of AF at a pan-European scale. This case study aimed to assess the effectiveness of protected areas (PA) in conserving AF and to explore the spatial and temporal patterns of AF diversity and distribution. Fifty-four sites located in two PA in northern Portugal were surveyed between November and December 2023: 24 sites in Peneda-Gerês National Park – PGNP (12 inside and 12 outside the PA) and 30 sites in Montesinho Nature Park - MNP (15 inside and 15 outside the PA). Additionally, a subset of 6 sites inside and outside PGNP were surveyed every season until October 2024. Water samples were filtrated to collect AF conidia and their morphological identification was performed. In a preliminary analysis, only about 30% of the morphotypes could be identified to species or genus level, underscoring a major knowledge gap in aquatic fungal taxonomy. Regarding the spatial patterns, AF richness was higher for MNP than PGNP, but there was no difference between sites inside or outside the PA. Forty-five taxa co-occurred in both PA, but 36 and 38 occurred only at PGNP and MNP, respectively. Interestingly, 5 morphotypes occurred only outside PGNP and 22 only outside MNP. Regarding temporal patterns, species richness and conidia concentration varied across streams and seasons, but not between state of protection. Autumn presented the highest values of richness and conidia concentrations, aligning with leaf fall and increased carbon availability. Overall, this study highlights 1) the need to better understand AF species distribution, and the potential threats to taxa occurring only outside PA; 2) the fact that AF communities changed seasonally and this should be taken into account when planning their monitoring; and 3) that the existing PA do not seem to be effective in promoting higher AF diversity and consequently there is an urgent need to include AF in conservation planning.
How to cite: Fernandes, I., Graça, D., Costa, S., and Sousa, R.: Spatial and temporal patterns of aquatic fungi inside and outside protected areas in Northern Portugal, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-731, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-731, 2026.
Aquatic hyphomycetes (AHs) play key roles in freshwater ecosystems as decomposers of plant matter. Despite their importance and decades of studies, their distribution at the global scale remains poorly understood. Currently, large quantities of molecular data and morphological observations are being generated and stored in public repositories that provide unprecedented opportunities to investigate patterns of AHs biodiversity at broad spatial and environmental scales.
As part of the MoSTFun project (Monitoring Strategies and Tools to address knowledge gaps on aquatic Fungi biodiversity), we developed pipelines and protocols for standardised collection, integration, and reanalysis of aquatic fungal data from these digital sources. We integrated data from both morphology- and DNA-based observations, creating a comprehensive picture of the current knowledge of global AHs diversity and distribution. We used the resulting dataset to model global spatial patterns of AHs, identify potentially rare or undersampled species and regions, and developed pipelines and experiences to disentangle ecological patterns from sampling biases.
Preliminary results indicate that more than half of the currently known AHs species are represented in major public repositories such as GBIF, UNITE and GlobalFungi. The geographic coverage shows a majority of observations in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests with central Europe dominating the dataset but with important clusters also in China, the North-East of the USA and Australia. Data from tropical ecosystems, such as moist broadleaf forests, has greatly increased since the advent of metabarcoding techniques. These results support earlier observations that AHs are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical ecosystems, indicating that the focus on sampling from temperate regions is likely due to geographic bias and not a lack of species richness in the tropics.
Our findings thus identify currently understudied areas and ecosystems such as grasslands and savannas and showcase the benefit of integrating morphological and molecular observations to better characterise global AHs biodiversity. A refined global overview of AHs biodiversity and biogeography is crucial to develop conservation goals of this important fungal group, to identify rare and threatened species, understand their dispersal limitation, and improve our understanding of their role in maintaining functioning and resilient freshwater ecosystems.
How to cite: Calore, R., Diaz-Miyar, J., Fernandes, I., Stallman, J. K., Rämä, T., Reñé, A., Bruder, A., and Consortium, M.: Global patterns of aquatic hyphomycetes biodiversity: mining digital repositories for morphology- and DNA-based data, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-250, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-250, 2026.
Fungi constitute an essential component of marine biodiversity and contribute to the ecosystem functioning through their symbiotic interactions and cycling of nutrients. Marine fungi are commonly recorded in association with inert or living substrates, in environmental conditions ranging from shallow temperate waters to extreme habitats with low temperature, nutrients, light and/or oxygen. Species occurrence data are abundant and continuously growing, although often scattered across research articles in various fields and missing systematic archiving. The development of accessible databases with curated occurrence records is essential to highlight the biodiversity of marine fungi and support quantitative analysis of their functions. To this end, we assembled a new dataset consisting of records of fungi from the marine environment in the Mediterranean Sea. Literature search was performed in Google Scholar by using keywords “marine”, “fungi”, “Mediterranean”, “Sea” in English, Italian, French, Spanish, and German. We manually analysed each article to check for relevance, and listed recorded fungal taxa in our dataset. Other than occurrence data and metadata, we annotated each record for its trophic behaviour and likeliness to implement it, following the criteria of FUNTRAITS. From 130 articles we manually extracted 4630 fungal records, and classified them as primary or secondary records whether they represented new observations or reported previously published records. Most fungal taxa were obtained from samples gathered in coastal environment compared to the open sea. Samples carrying the majority of fungal records were living organisms and organic natural substrates, while a minority of records was observed on organic artificial or inorganic substrates. The identification of recorded fungi was performed in most cases to the species level, with taxa belonging to Ascomycota and Basidiomycota phyla dominating the depicted biodiversity. Our study sheds light on the currently known diversity of fungi in the Mediterranean Sea, calling for increased actions to map fungi in understudied marine environments as well as more studies delving deeper on the function of fungi in their habitat.
How to cite: Marchese, P., Bovio, E., Chinaglia, S., Ferrari, E., Martínez García, A., and Garzoli, L.: Diversity of fungi in the Mediterranean Sea: highlights from a comprehensive dataset of published records, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-732, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-732, 2026.
The gulf coast prairie dune ecosystems of the barrier islands along the northern US Gulf Coast represent an important yet under-studied ecoregion in fungal biodiversity. These islands face increasing anthropogenic threats with important consequences to the coastal communities, including loss of biodiversity and the first line of defense against hurricanes. While the responses of dune vegetations to environmental change have been well-characterized, basic knowledge on underground fungal biodiversity, especially of mycorrhizal fungi, in these nutrient-poor environments remain limited. Even more limited is public awareness of fungi and their importance for the management of dune ecosystems. Here, we aim to increase knowledge on both fronts: fundamental fungal research and public awareness in local communities for conservation, addressing it in two ways. First, we characterized soil mycobiomes - focusing on arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) and ectomycorrhiza (EcM) - along four barrier islands in South Texas, spanning salinity gradient and land-use history. We used high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 18S rRNA small subunit (SSU) genetic regions to assess abiotic factors influencing community diversity and composition. Our results showed overall low fungal diversity though distinct fungal communities across the region, which were influenced more by spatial distance rather than other factors. Comparison between EcM and AMF revealed contrasting patterns: AMF communities exhibited spatial structuring with distinct AMF genera while EcM communities are more influenced by salinity levels rather than spatial distance. These findings reflect the ecological roles of mycorrhizal groups, as AMF act as generalists supporting herbaceous dune flora while the EcM association to woody species may have limited their capability to establish in coastal dunes. Second, we conducted basic fungal educational training and participation of local students - from fungal culture and mycorrhizal quantification to fieldwork. This outreach resulted in hands-on fungal activities by 4th graders, participation and training of local high school students in fieldwork, and research experience for undergraduate students. Taken together, our project highlights the importance of accounting for fungal diversity in these typically nutrient-poor soils of barrier islands, which will aid in successful future management and conservation of these natural resources.
How to cite: Lumibao, C. and Wilson, J.: Underground biodiversity: closing the knowledge gap in soil mycobiomes in the understudied gulf coast prairie dune ecoregion through research and outreach, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-86, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-86, 2026.
We know that freshwater biodiversity loss is occurring at an unprecedented rate: around one-quarter of freshwater fish, Odonata, and freshwater crabs, shrimp and crayfish are threatened with extinction. However, even in many well-studied parts of the world, we know very little or nothing about the status and trends of freshwater fungi. Aquatic fungi are vitally important to the health of our freshwaters but they are also vastly understudied, so much so that many species are not yet described or even discovered. They do not feature (yet) in conservation plans and conservation decision-making, and in general, we are simply unaware of aquatic fungi. Over the past couple of years, several important projects and groups have become established to address this deficit in aquatic fungi knowledge, including the IUCN SSC Aquatic Fungi Specialist Group. To support their efforts here in Indiana, we embarked on a project to collect, isolate and identify freshwater ascomycete fungi from submerged wood in aquatic habitats of Indianapolis, the White River and further afield. This baseline information provides a crucial first step for bio-monitoring activities and habitat restoration, so that freshwater ascomycetes, and hence clean water, can be conserved. Samples were taken from 37 sites in Indiana and have so far given insight into 20 taxa of aquatic fungi present in our freshwaters, including one new genus to science. Additionally, we continue to work on highlighting freshwater fungi and their role in the ecosystem through networking with conservation and freshwater organizations here in Indiana, networking with other ongoing freshwater projects to boost our ability to sample the state, and engaging students and the public about the project and that fungi exist in our waterways. In this talk, we will summarize our project activities so far and draw some lessons learned on how to boost the conservation of organisms that pretty much nobody knows about.
How to cite: Böhm, M. and Raja, H.: Filling the knowledge gap, sample by sample: freshwater ascomycete fungi in Indiana, and the value of partnerships and networks, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-346, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-346, 2026.
Fungi are fundamental to ecosystem health, yet remain a monumental blind spot in biodiversity conservation, severely underrepresented in monitoring and policy frameworks like the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. A primary bottleneck is the lack of rapid, reliable, and scalable identification tools. DNA metabarcoding is costly and often fails with degraded material, historical collections or paleoecological samples, where a vast repository of fungal diversity data lies locked away. We propose a transformative AI-driven solution to this crisis. With taxonomy and computer science expertise, we are developing deep learning models for the automated identification of fungal species based on spore morphology. Moving beyond simple silhouette analysis, our computer vision approach is the first to integrate critical taxonomic characters like ornamentation, wall thickness, and chromatism. This aims to create a high-resolution "sporal fingerprint" for species identification.
Using the hyper-diverse and spore-rich genus Russula as a proof-of-concept, we are building a model with data from Kew's unparalleled fungarium and new data from field mycology efforts. This interdisciplinary approach, co-developing tools with taxonomists, ensures the models are biologically meaningful and directly applicable to real-world conservation challenges. This tool will enable the identification of both extant and extinct species from modern collections to ancient sediments, where durable spores outlast degradable DNA.
This innovation provides a scalable method to harmonize fungal monitoring across ecosystems and geographies, unlocking historical and forthcoming data for trend analysis. By generating rapid, cost-effective identifications, it aims to empower researchers, citizen scientists and industry players, fostering inclusive and collaborative dynamics. The resulting open-access database and toolset will serve as a foundational resource for upscaling fungal conservation, providing the actionable data needed to integrate fungi into national Red Lists, biodiversity action plans, and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). Integrating this tool into established conservation programs adds the crucial fungal dimension, ensuring that fungi are no longer the overlooked majority, but a central part of the transformation towards biodiversity-positive futures.
How to cite: Fachada, V., Turner, F., and Druzhinina, I.: Spore it Out: A Deep Learning Framework for Identifying Fungi from Spore Morphology to Bridge Biodiversity Knowledge Gaps , World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-224, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-224, 2026.
The biodiversity of aquatic fungi remains vastly underexplored, including the taxonomy and biogeography of species and their responses to environmental changes. Aquatic fungi contribute substantially to ecosystem processes and services, and interact with other organisms in aquatic food webs, as decomposers, symbionts, pathogens, and parasites. All these roles depend on different facets of aquatic fungal biodiversity. Despite increasing recognition of their importance for ecosystems and societies, aquatic fungi are not included in routine biodiversity monitoring programs, unlike other key aquatic organism groups, such as fish and macroinvertebrates. These gaps in knowledge and policy impede effective management and conservation of aquatic fungi and of the crucial ecosystem processes and services they provide. Through MoSTFun, a Biodiversa+ project, we aim to develop the conceptual foundation, methodologies, and experience needed to include aquatic fungi in routine biodiversity monitoring programs. We leverage and add value to existing biodiversity monitoring programs and networks designed for other organism groups by reanalyzing their data or samples, either from publicly available archives or previous sampling efforts. Additionally, we are evaluating the procedures and experiences of existing biodiversity monitoring programs to determine how aquatic fungal biodiversity could be added to them. To facilitate this uptake, we use existing monitoring concepts such as Essential Biodiversity Variables but advance them to account for aquatic fungal biology and ecology. This approach is possible thanks to increasingly efficient, and accessible molecular tools and public databases that contain rapidly growing volumes of molecular data of different types. While the project develops and focuses on examples on the European scale, we will generate scalable knowledge and recommendations, potentially transferable to other regions. This knowledge transfer is ensured through close collaboration with relevant stakeholder groups and will be developed into a Knowledge-to-Action Hub for aquatic fungi. This will also allow for collaboration with other ongoing initiatives on the monitoring and conservation of aquatic fungal biodiversity and ensure the continuation of our efforts after the project’s lifetime.
How to cite: Bruder, A., Rodrigues Fernandes, I., Calore, R., Marchese, P., Anderson, J., and Böhm, M. and the MoSTFun Consortium: Developing strategies and tools for the monitoring of aquatic fungal biodiversity, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-655, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-655, 2026.
