Mapping the potential harvestable productivity of wild edible mushrooms by integrating expert knowledge and forest inventory data

Abstract Wild edible mushrooms are valuable non-wood forest products with ecological, cultural and economic relevance, but their integration into forest resource assessment and planning is constrained by scarce large-scale productivity data. We developed a spatially explicit, expert-based framework to estimate and map the potential harvestable productivity of socio-economically important edible mushroom taxa under favourable fruiting conditions. Using Aragón, Spain, as a case study, we modelled 15 target taxa in Spanish Forest Map units characterized by habitat class, stand structure, edaphic substrate, and topography. In two independent elicitation sessions, 30 experienced mushroom pickers estimated habitat-specific productivity, harvesting-effort parameters and taxon-specific correction coefficients. These estimates were converted into annualized estimates of potential harvestable productivity using taxon-specific peak-week production fractions informed by historical production patterns. The model revealed strong taxon–habitat differentiation and spatial heterogeneity, with the highest values concentrated in Pyrenean forests and the Iberian System. Model-estimated regional potential harvestable production under favourable conditions was 15,940 t·yr⁻¹; Lactarius group deliciosus (42.2%), Morchella sp. (17.4%) and the Boletus edulis commercial group (12.2%) jointly accounted for 71.8%, while all remaining taxa accounted for 28.2%. The framework provides an operational approach for mapping the potential harvestable productivity of wild mushrooms in data-limited regions and supporting forest resource assessment, multifunctional forest planning, sustainable harvesting, and mycotourism.