ABSTRACT
The present study was conducted at Mpanga Research Forest located in Mpigi District, Uganda, during the months of March, April, May and Jun 2020 (for the first rainy season) then in September, October, November, and December 2020 (for the second rainy season) to determine the diversity and distribution of macrofungi as well as their influence by seasonality, and physicochemical properties of the soil. An inventory was carried out through plot sampling and survey which consists of installing three permanent plots of 30 m x 30 m in each of the four selected sites, the soil was also measured in the sample plots. To measure distribution and diversity, abundance, species richness, density, and Simpson's and Shannon's indices were calculated. SPSS version 20 software was used for the significance tests of the diversity parameters between the two rainy seasons and for those of the correlation between the soil factors and the abundance of macrofungi species. A total of 120 species of basidiomycetous macrofungi distributed in 53 genera and 22 families were recorded. The dominant genus was Psathyrella followed by Marasmius belonging to the most dominant families (Coprinaceae and Marasmiaceae), and the most dominant orders (Agaricales and Tricholomatales). During the two rainy seasons, the majority of the species that have been collected belong to the group of saprophytes. Macrofungi species collected during the second rainy season were more abundant and diverse than those collected during the first rainy season. Among the physicochemical properties of the soil, pH, calcium, potassium, nitrogen, organic carbon, phosphorus, clay, sand and organic matter were significantly correlated with the abundance of macrofungal species. The results of this study provided basic information on the diversity of macrofungi in Mpanga forest, it can be a point of reference for further research to study the evolution of macrofungal biodiversity in this forest.
ABSTRACT
This study focused on the documentation of wild macrofungi species used by village communities living around Mpanga Forest in Mpigi District, Central Uganda. In order to determine the variability of knowledge and the modes of use of macrofungi by the local communities, a total of 100 people, distributed in 4 villages (Kalagala, Nakigudde, Mpambire, and Lwanga) including 25 people in each, were interviewed following a semi-structured survey. The information focused on vernacular names, different species of macrofungi used, different categories of uses (food, medicinal, commercial, mythical, and traditional beliefs), Seasonality, habitat, preservation, and preparation methods. The diversity of macrofungi was assessed by combining visits in Mpanga forest and ethnomycological surveys. Ethnomycological indices such as Total Use Value (TUV), Diversity Index (DI), Pielou Regularity Index (EI), and Sorensen's K test were calculated to analyze the use differences between the 4 village communities. To determine the influence of age, gender and literacy level on the mycological knowledge held by village communities, one-way ANOVA and t-tests were used. The field collections associated with the ethnomycological surveys made it possible to identify a total of 35 species useful for the local communities among which, 29 are edible, 14 are medicinal, 5 are used for income and 4 are used for mythical and traditional beliefs. Due to their higher total use value (TUV>1), species such as Leucoagaricus rubrotinctus (Ggudu), Termitomyces sp.1 (Bubbala) and Termitomyces sp.2 (Nakyebowa) are the most exploited by local communities. The study revealed that ethnomycological knowledge is held by a minority of respondents (IE<0.5) within each village community, a consistency homogeneity of this knowledge within this minority (DI<DImax/2), but high variability in the use of macrofungi between village communities as indicated by TUV values ??and Sorensen's K test. The study also shown that the distribution of mycological knowledge of local communities was significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by gender, age and level of education. The results of this study provided information that could, in the future, be used in the domestication of wild macrofungi species and in mycomedecine to contribute to food security and improve public health care.