Distribution and Species Inventory of Wild Mushrooms Along Three Waterfalls in Mount Mingan, Aurora Province, Philippines

Mount Mingan, located in the Province of Aurora, Philippines, is home to a rich fungal community that thrives across its different ecological habitats, including waterfalls, streams, secondary forests, and agroforestry zones.This study was carried out to map the macrofungal diversity and distribution by surveying three sites (Tanawan Falls, Davil-davilan Falls, and Mahogany Falls), which cover different habitat types, sampling months, and elevation gradients.Among the three sampling sites, the Davil-davilan Falls recorded the highest species composition at 77%, followed by the Mahogany Falls with 49%, while the Tanawan Falls had the lowest species composition at 23%.These varying results of species composition across the three sites were possibly due to the contrasting forest structure and the degree of disturbance caused by human activities.The occurrence of macrofungal species in the study area was greatly influenced by seasonality, with results showing that the highest fungal diversity in October at 83%, which aligns to the month with the highest precipitation.Moreover, elevation is also a crucial determinant of species distribution, where most of the species recorded were at elevation ranging between 100-250 masl, while there is an evident decline of species distribution as the elevation increases, thus the highest elevation at 351-450 masl, showed the lowest sampled species.Several macrofingal species, such as Earliella scabrosa, Ganoderma applanatum, and Schizophyllum commune, were consistently observed across all of the three sampling sites, months of the year, and elevation ranges of the area, which indicates that these species have broad ecological tolerance.Morphological identification classified the 128 macrofungal specimens into five classes, 32 families, 50 genera, and 86 species, with Basidiomycota, particularly Agaricomycetes and the family Polyporaceae, dominating the assemblage.Seven species were isolated successfully through pure culture, which provides the essential material for future ecological, taxonomic, and biotechnological research.Mount Mingan as a biologically significant area for macrofungal diversity and emphasize the importance of its conservation and continued scientific exploration.