Article

Research on fungal biodiversity and conservation has been fragmentary and inadequate in Greece. Large gaps exist in our knowledge, despite the ecologica I importance and value of this region. The geographic position, the variety of landscapes and climatic conditions, the distinct topography and geology combined to create a multitude of habitats for living organisms. As concerns fungi in particular, the large number of host plants, many ofwhich are endemie, provides an additional clue for the alleged existence of a particularly rich mycoflora. Based on scarce and rather ancient literature data, the number of funga I species is about 2,500. In contrast, relatively recent, but stili limited, interest in macromycetes contributed at establishing an estimate of935 species, ofwhich 815 be long to Basidiomycota and 120 to larger Ascomycota. However, these figures represent only a small fraction of the existing mycodiversity as it is al so evidenced from relevant detailed studies in other European countries, and from the rate of recording new species for Greece. The need for intensifying this type ofwork and producing an inventory of the fungal biota is here emphasized. The acquisition and evaluation of new data, first in selected representative ecosystems, could eventually contribute at accomplishing the goal of mapping the Greek mycoflora. Of great priority is also the issue of conservation, and protection of sites which are rich in macrofungi, but nowadays they are rapidly deteriorating.