Date

Those interested in obtaining a copy of this book can contact:
Zhurbenko Mikhail Petrovich
Komarov Botanical Institute
lab. of the systematics and geography of fungi
Russian Academy of Sciences (BIN)
Professor Popov street, 2
St.-Petersburg, Russia, 197376
zhurb [at] MZ3838.spb.edu

Russia

KARATYGIN, I. V., NEZDOIMINOGO, E. L., NOVOZHILOV, Y. K., ZHURBENKO, M. P.
1999. Russian Arctic Fungi. Check-list. St.-Petersburg. 212 p. 1 fig.
[Reports 1750 fungi species. Host index, and 280 bibliographic references
are provided. In Russian, English summary.].

From the preface:

This book summarizes existing data on all fungi known to occur in the
Russian Arctic to 1999. Our use of the term "Russian Arctic" follows the
"Arctic Flora of the USSR" (1960-1986) (Tolmachev, 1956, 1960), and refers
to those regions lying north of treeline. Adjacent mountain systems are also
included. As thus defined, the Russian Arctic is a highly heterogeneous
landscape,comprising polar desert, tundra and, at its southern limits,
forested tundra and mountain tundra (i. e., the Khibine mountains, the Polar
Ural, the Putorana plateau, Kolyma and the Koryak highlands). Within this
region, we report 1750 species of fungi, excluding soil fungi and
yeasts. Of course the Russian Arctic can be more narrowly circumscribed
(e.g., Yurtsev et al., 1978), and in this case it would support 20-30% fewer
fungal species.

Each species included in our checklist is accompanied by locality data, the
host plants or habitats, the collection date and the name of the
collector(s). In some cases the herbarium number and the name of the
host herbarium are also provided. In the case of literature reports, we were
able to locate and revise many, but by no means all, of the original
collections; for specimens unavailable to us, only locality data and
literature citations are provided.

The species names included in this book are accompanied by those synonyms
appearing in the literature on arctic fungi. The term "fungus" is used here
in its traditional sense, and thus includes flagellate forms, though such
taxa are now often classified as unicelled or mycelial protists. While
acknowledging that concensus on fungal taxonomy is unlikely in the
foreseeable future, we have for practical reasons largely followed the
taxonomic system promoted in the 8th edition of "Ainsworth and Bisby's
Dictionary of the Fungi" (Hawksworth et al., 1995). An exception is made XXX
in the case of the Deuteromycetes XXX, which are presented according to the
7th edition of the Dictionary of Fungi (Hawksworth et al., 1983). Other
exceptions include some groups in the Agaricales (sensu lato), as well as
some others. Abbreviations of authors' names follow "Authors of Fungal
Names" (Kirk AND Ansell, 1992).

The purpose of this book is to combine a critical review of the existing
literature with original data contributed by the authors. The authors are
aware that many reports are based on misidentifications, but to correct
these would involve detailed taxonomic studies beyond the scope of this
book. Groups requiring further attention include the Ascomycetes and the
Deuteromycetes. By contrast, the Agaricales sensu lato, Uredinales,
Ustilaginales, Erysiphales, Myxomycota, and lichenicolous fungi have all
received a much fuller and more exacting treatment.

We have subdivided the Russian Arctic into 13 broad geographic regions. We
stress, however, that our subdivisions are units of conveniences, and are
not intended to approximate actual "mycogeographic" boundaries. (Scientific
mycogeographic partitioning of the Russian Arctic is still in its infancy).
Our subdivisions roughly parallel those given in the "Arctic Flora of the
USSR", on the assumption that fungal distributions are to a large extent
controlled by the distributions of their host plants. Distributional data
are arranged from north to south, and from west to east, i.e., from
Franz Josef Land to the New Siberian Islands, and then from Murmansk to the
Magadan area.

As an aid to research in other Arctic regions of the world, we also
include information on the circumpolar distributions of fungi, including
arctic portions of Canada, Alaska, Fennoscandia, Spitsbergen, Iceland and
Greenland. Finally, we have prepared an index to host plants, as well as an
index to fungal synonyms. The book concludes with a comprehensive listing of
pertinent references.