THE NATIONAL RED LIST OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Giant funnel

Aspropaxillus giganteus

Macedonian

Голема дебелоношка

Albanian

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Taxonomy
Assessment info
Population
Habitat and Ecology
Threats
Use and Trade
Conservation Actions
Bibliography

Taxonomy

Scientific name

Aspropaxillus giganteus

Authority

(Sowerby) Kühner & Maire

Synonyms

Agaricus giganteus Sowerby
Leucopaxillus giganteus (Sowerby) Singer

Assessment info

IUCN Red List Category and Criteria

NT D1

Date assessed

November 2020

Assessors

Tofilovska, S.

Reviewers

Kost, G.

Contributors

Karadelev, M.

Rusevska, K.

Jovanovski, T.

Facilitators

Miskovic, M.

Justification

Aspropaxillus giganteus is a saprobe, commonly found on the fringes between pastures and forests, and in open forest areas. It has been established from 11 sites in the country while the total number of sites is guesstimated to be between 30 and 55, and an estimate of ca. 660–1,100 mature individuals can be made. It is an edible species but excessive foraging is not expected. The species has minor population with an unknown trend, thus it is assessed as near threatened according to the D1 criterion.

Population

Current population trend

Unknown

Description

In North Macedonia, this species is regarded as not very common. According to the instructions for estimation of mature individuals provided by Dahlberg and Mueller (2011), an estimate can be made of ca. 660–1,100, based on the probable total number of sites in the country (ca. 30–55), the estimated number of functional individuals at each locality (estimated to be two), and the template of how many mature individuals each reproducing genotype may give rise to (the template used ten). It has a small population with an unknown trend.

Habitat and Ecology

System

Terrestrial.

Habitat and Ecology

Aspropaxillus giganteus is a saprobe, occurring in open grassland areas near scattered trees, open woodland, meadows or commonly at the fringes between pastures and forests as well as by roadsides (Kaiser 1998, Ribeiro et al. 2008). The species usually produces sporocarps from late summer to late autumn, in groups or fairy rings.

Aspropaxillus giganteus has been observed at 11 sites in the country, dispersed in 8 biogeographic regions (Melovski et al. 2013), at elevation ranges between 600–1.500 m. Five of the known sites are located in national parks in the zone for sustainable use, as follows: Galicica – two sites, Mavrovo – two sites, Pelister – one site. The species is prominent but it has not been frequently recorded in the past. Therefore, given the knowledge on the species ecology and based on the availability of an appropriate habitat, an estimation of probable sites has been made (Dahlberg and Mueller 2011). The total number of sites is guesstimated to be by 3 to 5 times higher than the current number, resulting in ca. 30-55 sites.

Use and trade

Use and trade

Aspropaxillus giganteus is an edible mushroom but it is better to consume it while young, and also with precaution because it may cause gastrointestinal problems. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry for extraction of clitocybin antibiotic, and for its antimicrobial and antioxidant properties (Barros et al. 2007).

It is rarely collected by mushroom pickers, and it is not traded by mushroom purveyors in the country.

Threats

Threats

Habitats pinpointed as being under high-intensity threat in the latest Biodiversity Action Plan (2018) are as follows: mesic and wet grasslands as well as alpine grasslands due to overgrowth, abandonment or succession. However, the possible impact of this change on the population of A. giganteus is unknown given that the species thrives on the fringes between pastures and forests and in open forest areas. An excessive foraging is not expected.

Conservation actions

Conservation actions

Conservation needed: Undertaking appropriate measures for maintenance of the habitats that are under threat.
Research needed: Regular monitoring on an annual basis at the established sites, especially in the threatened habitats, and to make an accurate assessment of the impacts of habitat changes on the population of the fungus. Field research at possible sites seeking to explore the species distribution and dynamics of occurrence. There is a necessity of elaboration of a country’s habitat map.

Bibliography

Bibliography

ArtDatabanken, 2020. Aspropaxillus giganteus. Artfakta 2020 Red List of Swedish Species online database. Available at: https://artfakta.se/naturvard/taxon/aspropaxillus-giganteus-4901.

Barros, L., Baptista, P., Estevinho, L.M. and Ferreira, I.C.F.R. 2007. Bioactive properties of the medicinal mushroom Leucopaxillus giganteus mycelium obtained in the presence of different nitrogen sources. Food Chemistry 105: 179–186.

Corriol, G. (Coord.). 2014. Liste rouge des champignons de Midi-Pyrénées. Conservatoire botanique national des Pyrénées et de Midi-Pyrénées. Midi-Pyrénées, France.

Dahlberg, A. and Mueller, G.M. 2011. Applying IUCN red-listing criteria for assessing and reporting on the conservation status of fungal species. Fungal Ecology 4(2): 147-162.

Friebes, G., Dämon, W., Michelitsch S., Pidlich-Aigner H. and Krisai-Greilhuber, I. 2017. Verzeichnis und Rote Liste der Großpilze der Steiermark (Österreich). Joannea Botanik 14: 29–112.

Hyvärinen, E., Juslén, A., Kemppainen, E., Uddström, A. and Liukko, U.M. 2019. The 2019 Red List of Finnish Species.

Ympäristöministeriö and Suomen ympäristökeskus, Helsinki.

Index Fungorum Partnership. 2020. Index Fungorum. Available at: http://www.indexfungorum.org.

Ivančević, B., Matavuly, М. and Karaman, М. 2012. Fungi (mushrooms and lichens) in Serbian legislation. Biologia Serbica 34(1-2): 19-35.

Kaiser, P. 1998. Relations of Leucopaxillus giganteus, basidiomycete of fairy rings, with soil microflora and grassland plants.

Cryptogamie Mycologie 19(1-2): 45–61.

Laurent-Dargent, J. 2009. La liste rouge des champignons (macromycètes) rares ou menacés en Lorraine. Sciences pharmaceutiques.

Melovski, Lj., Markoski, B., Hristovski, S., Jovanovska, D., Anastasovski, V., Klincharov, S., Velevski, M., Velkovski, N., Trendafilov, A., Matevski, V., Kostadinovski, M., Karadelev, M., Levkov, Z. and Kolchakovski, D. 2013. Regional division of the Republic of Macedonia for the needs of biological databases. Macedonian journal of Ecology and Environment 15(2): 81-111.

Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning. 2018. National biodiversity strategy and action plan: for the period 2018–2023. Support to the Republic of Macedonia for revision of national biodiversity strategy and action plan and development of the fifth national report to the convention on biodiversity. Ministry of environment and physical planning, Skopje.

Moeslund, J.E., Nygaard, B., Ejrnæs, R., Bell, N., Bruun, L.D., Bygebjerg, R., Carl, H., Damgaard, J., Dylmer, E., Elmeros, M., Flensted, K., Fog, K., Goldberg, I., Gønget, H., Helsing, F., Holmen, M., Jørum, P., Lissner, J., Læssøe, T., Madsen, H.B., Misser, J., Møller, P.R., Nielsen, O.F., Olsen, K., Sterup, J., Søchting, U., Wiberg-Larsen, P. and Wind, P. 2019. Den danske Rødliste. Aarhus Universitet, DCE – Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi. Available at: www.redlist.au.dk..

Ribeiro, B., Andrade, P.B., Baptista, P., Barros, L., Ferreira, I.C., Seabra, R.M., Valentão, P. 2008. Leucopaxillus giganteus mycelium: effect of nitrogen source on organic acids and alkaloids. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56(12): 4769–74.

Sugny, D., Beirnaert, P., Billot, A., Caillet, M. & M., Chevrolet, J.P., Galliot, L., Herbert, R. and Moyne, G. 2013. Liste rouge des champignons supérieurs de Franche-Comté. Publication commune Fédération Mycologique de l’Est, Conservatoire National Botanique de Franche-Comté et Société Botanique de Franche-Comté, LUNÉVILLE, imprimerie PARADIS.

Tkalčec, Z., Mešić, A., Matočec, N. and Kušan, I. 2008. Red book of Croatian Fungi. Ministry of Culture, State Institute for Nature Protection, Zagreb.