Protecting rare, little known, old-growth forest-associated fungi in the Pacific Northwest USA: a case study in fungal conservation.

In 1994, 234 fungal species were listed for protection under the Survey and Manage Programme (SMP) guidelines of the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), an area encompassing 9.7 Mha of federal land in the states of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. The fungal species were presumed rare, associated with late-successional old-growth forests, and in need of protection not afforded by the major elements of the NWFP, including a vast system of forest reserves. The SMP guidelines thus called for protecting known sites while gathering information through surveys to learn more about species rarity, distribution, habitat requirements, and persistence concerns. If new information revealed that a species was not rare, not associated with late-successional old-growth forests, or that other aspects of the NWFP guidelines provided for their persistence (e.g. adequate protection provided by forest reserves), the species could be removed from the programme. The first assemblage of known site records from fungal herbaria yielded approximately 3500 records for all listed species. After 12 y of survey the total number of records increased four-fold to approximately 14,400 records. Fifty-five percent of species were found at 20 or fewer sites and considered rare; 42% were found at ten or fewer sites. Over the life of the programme, 39 species were removed from the programme primarily because they were no longer considered rare; many were found at several hundred sites throughout the NWFP area. Mapped distributions of known sites varied among species. When viewed across species, however, known sites were well distributed throughout the NWFP area, thus indicating the importance of the entire NWFP area in maintaining this diverse array of fungi. The NWFP relies on a system of late-successional forest reserves to act as a coarse-filter conservation approach to provide protection for late-successional species. Ninety percent of fungal species had some portion of their known sites within reserves, but only 34% of total sites occurred within reserves. Thus, for the rarest species, applying a fine-filter conservation approach that protects known sites outside of reserves becomes an important aspect of species protection. The SMP became a costly and controversial aspect of the NWFP and underwent several administrative revisions including attempts to end the programme in 2004 and 2007. Regardless of costs and controversy, this conservation programme represents an unprecedented attempt to conserve rare fungal species at a regional scale. One of the more important lessons learned is the absolute need for professional mycologists to develop long-term partnerships with resource managers and other scientists, and apply mycological expertise to complex species and habitat conservation issues in an interdisciplinary setting.