Estimating Boyacá’s macrofungal diversity

Colombia is among the world’s most biodiverse countries, but despite being listed as the country with the second-highest number of flowering plants under the Convention on Biological Diversity, there is little information about the country’s fungal diversity. The area of study for this project, Boyacá, is particularly data-poor for fungi. This project aims to improve the knowledge of fungi in Colombia by examining the macro-fungal diversity across different habitats of Boyacá. A total of 156 specimens were sequenced across 5 habitats, representing over 115 species, of which 32 are potential new records for Boyacá and 27 new records for Colombia. The study uncovers different patterns in diversity and composition among the sites which are linked to a range of factors including disturbance.