Habitat and Ecology
Gyrodon lividus occurs in very moist areas, by river banks, in marshes and riparian and gallery woodlands, in nitrogen-rich ecological conditions, on a rather calcareous and sometimes acid soil. It forms mycorrhiza with alder trees exclusively. The sporocarps may be solitary or in groups, sometimes fused at the base, emerging from summer to autumn.
In North Macedonia, Gyrodon lividus is a rare species recorded at eight sites only, in the biogeographical regions of Taorska Klisura and Badar, Kichevo Valley, Debarca (Belchishta Wetland, largest subpopulation), Zhegligovo, Strumichko Pole, Kozjak-Mariovo, Osogovski Planini and Shar Planina, at elevation ranges between 220–1,450 m (Melovski et al. 2013). The species is edible, conspicuous, and it has been searched for in the well-known areas of riparian communities with Alnus trees. Nevertheless, Gyrodon lividus can also be spotted in minor stands of Alnus spp. on damp soil; hence, an estimation of probable sites was made (Dahlberg and Mueller 2011). The total number of sites is guesstimated to be five times higher than the current number, ca. 40 sites in total.