Diversity of Basidiomycetous Macrofungi from Mpanga Forest in Mpigi District, Central Uganda

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.