Provisional list of the Ascomycota species from Kosovo with data on new records

The mycobiota of Kosovo, especially fungi of the phylum Ascomycota, remains under-explored despite its ecological and biological importance. This study aims to assess the diversity and distribution of macrofungal species of the phylum Ascomycota in different ecosystems in Kosovo. Field work combined with laboratory analysis was conducted from 2017 to 2022, using standard mycological techniques for species identification. A total of 82 species have now been documented in Kosovo. Of these, 39 species have been previously reported in the scientific literature, and 43 species are new records, significantly enriching the knowledge of the diversity of fungi in Kosovo. Taxonomic analysis showed that these species belong to 56 genera, distributed in 34 families, 10 orders, six subclasses, five classes and one subphylum. The Helotiales and Pezizales orders had the highest diversity, with 12 and nine families, respectively. In contrast, the orders such as Xylariales and Hypocreales showed remarkable variation, while several other orders were represented by a single family. These results highlight the rich but under-explored diversity of Ascomycota in Kosovo and emphasise the importance of further research to support biodiversity conservation.