Conservation of fungal diversity

Several hundred nature reserves have been established in China and these provide good conditions of the in situ conservation of fungi as well as other organisms. However, the in situ conservation of fungi is hampered by a lack of detailed lists of species, lists of rare species, and an understanding of the ecological requirements of such species. Intensive field work in these nature reserves for inventory purposes seems desirable. Furthermore, of forestations would benefit the in situ conservation and picking limits or picking in a planned way, are necessary for sustained utilization of wild fungal resources.

Culture collections are of particular importance for the ex situ conservation of micro-organisms. The Culture Collection of the Institute of Microbiology, Academia Sinica, holds more than 10,000 strains. The number of bacteria and actinomycetes is as mentioned above. There are 1,877 strains, and 166 species in 51 genera of yeasts; 4,705 strains, and 714 species in 178 genera of microfilamentous fungi and 662 strains, and 113 species in 63 genera of mushroom cultures presently preserved. In addition, the Culture Collection of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Forestry Research are among the most important culture collections in China.

The potential fungal resources of China are globally important. There are vast areas that are still unexplored. At present, China needs sufficient investigators and funds to explore and develop this research field and, therefore, the extensive collection of micro-organisms in unexplored areas is of a top priority.