The Rise of China in Fungal Taxonomic Studies and Biodiversity Cataloging in the Past Decade

TL;DR

Chinese mycologists have made significant progress in discovering and documenting fungal biodiversity over the past decade.

Contribution

A comprehensive statistical summary of new fungal taxa and biodiversity records in China, emphasizing recent advancements.

Findings

2875 Chinese scholars published 20,826 new fungal taxa, with 65% published in the past decade.

31,180 fungal species have been documented in China, with Yunnan Province showing the highest richness.

A national checklist of fungi was compiled using data from 18,200 articles and 300 books.

Abstract

Mycological studies in China have achieved substantial and encouraging progress in recent decades. In this paper, the discoveries of novel fungal taxa published by Chinese mycologists and the documented records of fungi distributed in China are statistically summarized based on the data retrieved from Fungal Names and the Checklist of Fungi in the China database, respectively. Our analysis reveals that a total of 2875 Chinese scholars have published 20,826 new fungal taxa to date, 65% of which were published within the past decade. During the same period, Chinese mycologists placed great importance on archiving fungal diversity data and have completed the compilation of the national checklist of fungi. Based on 382,503 records derived from over 18,200 research articles and 300 books, a total of 31,180 fungal species, spanning 17 phyla, 65 classes, 240 orders, 840 families, and 4531 genera, have been documented in China. The southwestern region, especially Yunnan Province, exhibits the highest richness of documented species. These results provide a comprehensive overview of the current status of fungal biodiversity and taxonomic studies in China, providing a valuable foundation for future investigations.

Figures