Morphological Plasticity and Abundance Patterns of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> in the South Shetland Islands: Implications for Fungal Ecology in a Warming Antarctica
The formation and development of mushrooms depend on suitable conditions of humidity, substrate, and temperature. These environmental factors are directly influenced by ongoing climate change, which may alter fungal growth patterns, distribution, and morphology. However, these attributes remain inad...
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2025-07-01
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| author | Fernando Augusto Bertazzo-Silva Jair Putzke João Lindolfo Meira Marisa Terezinha Lopes Putzke Carlos Ernesto Gonçalves Reynaud Schaefer |
| author_facet | Fernando Augusto Bertazzo-Silva Jair Putzke João Lindolfo Meira Marisa Terezinha Lopes Putzke Carlos Ernesto Gonçalves Reynaud Schaefer |
| author_sort | Fernando Augusto Bertazzo-Silva |
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| description | The formation and development of mushrooms depend on suitable conditions of humidity, substrate, and temperature. These environmental factors are directly influenced by ongoing climate change, which may alter fungal growth patterns, distribution, and morphology. However, these attributes remain inadequately investigated in Antarctic mushrooms. In this study, we examined 334 basidiomes of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i>, discovered on Livingston Island in 2023. The morphological characteristics of these basidiomes were analyzed to explore how recent variations may be linked to and explained by climatic changes. Comparing the original description from over 60 years ago with the recent literature on the subject, we observed a larger pileus diameter (47.3% of basidiomes with diameters exceeding 23 mm, up to 75 mm) than previously documented (reported as up to 23 mm). Additionally, there were changes in pileus morphology, with not all of them exhibiting an umbilicate form, contrary to the references. We propose that these morphological variations may be attributed to climatic changes. The basidiomata were also found in association with pure Antarctic grass banks, prompting the question of whether <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> is indeed a moss parasite. The information presented in this study aims to support ongoing research on the taxonomy and diversity of Agaricales fungi in Antarctica. |
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| spelling | doaj-art-9c7395e83b6a44e9ad7aea70d2c9087d2025-07-25T13:20:16ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182025-07-0117748910.3390/d17070489Morphological Plasticity and Abundance Patterns of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> in the South Shetland Islands: Implications for Fungal Ecology in a Warming AntarcticaFernando Augusto Bertazzo-Silva0Jair Putzke1João Lindolfo Meira2Marisa Terezinha Lopes Putzke3Carlos Ernesto Gonçalves Reynaud Schaefer4Laboratório de Taxonomia de Fungos, Universidade Federal do Pampa, Rua Aluízio Barros Macedo, s/n, BR 290—km 423, São Gabriel 97307-020, RS, BrazilLaboratório de Taxonomia de Fungos, Universidade Federal do Pampa, Rua Aluízio Barros Macedo, s/n, BR 290—km 423, São Gabriel 97307-020, RS, BrazilPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pampa, Rua Aluízio Barros Macedo, s/n. BR 290—km 423, São Gabriel 97307-020, RS, BrazilCurso de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul, Avenida Independência, 2293, Santa Cruz do Sul 96815-900, RS, BrazilDepartamento de Solos, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Campus Universitário, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n, Viçosa 36570-900, MG, BrazilThe formation and development of mushrooms depend on suitable conditions of humidity, substrate, and temperature. These environmental factors are directly influenced by ongoing climate change, which may alter fungal growth patterns, distribution, and morphology. However, these attributes remain inadequately investigated in Antarctic mushrooms. In this study, we examined 334 basidiomes of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i>, discovered on Livingston Island in 2023. The morphological characteristics of these basidiomes were analyzed to explore how recent variations may be linked to and explained by climatic changes. Comparing the original description from over 60 years ago with the recent literature on the subject, we observed a larger pileus diameter (47.3% of basidiomes with diameters exceeding 23 mm, up to 75 mm) than previously documented (reported as up to 23 mm). Additionally, there were changes in pileus morphology, with not all of them exhibiting an umbilicate form, contrary to the references. We propose that these morphological variations may be attributed to climatic changes. The basidiomata were also found in association with pure Antarctic grass banks, prompting the question of whether <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> is indeed a moss parasite. The information presented in this study aims to support ongoing research on the taxonomy and diversity of Agaricales fungi in Antarctica.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/7/489Antarctic fungipolarbiodiversityextreme environments |
| spellingShingle | Fernando Augusto Bertazzo-Silva Jair Putzke João Lindolfo Meira Marisa Terezinha Lopes Putzke Carlos Ernesto Gonçalves Reynaud Schaefer Morphological Plasticity and Abundance Patterns of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> in the South Shetland Islands: Implications for Fungal Ecology in a Warming Antarctica Diversity Antarctic fungi polar biodiversity extreme environments |
| title | Morphological Plasticity and Abundance Patterns of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> in the South Shetland Islands: Implications for Fungal Ecology in a Warming Antarctica |
| title_full | Morphological Plasticity and Abundance Patterns of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> in the South Shetland Islands: Implications for Fungal Ecology in a Warming Antarctica |
| title_fullStr | Morphological Plasticity and Abundance Patterns of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> in the South Shetland Islands: Implications for Fungal Ecology in a Warming Antarctica |
| title_full_unstemmed | Morphological Plasticity and Abundance Patterns of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> in the South Shetland Islands: Implications for Fungal Ecology in a Warming Antarctica |
| title_short | Morphological Plasticity and Abundance Patterns of <i>Arrhenia antarctica</i> in the South Shetland Islands: Implications for Fungal Ecology in a Warming Antarctica |
| title_sort | morphological plasticity and abundance patterns of i arrhenia antarctica i in the south shetland islands implications for fungal ecology in a warming antarctica |
| topic | Antarctic fungi polar biodiversity extreme environments |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/7/489 |
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