Ecological communities of tree species threatened by myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii (G. Winter) Beenken) : the lichenised mycobiota of pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa Sol. ex Gaertn., Myrtaceae

Abstract

Myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii) poses a serious threat to the New Zealand Myrtaceae. While the threat to the host tree is reasonably well-known, the threat myrtle rust poses to the associated biota is poorly understood. As a contribution to our knowledge of this, a preliminary list of the lichenised mycobiota that utilise pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) as a phorophyte is presented, based on a survey of the specimens in two herbaria with extensive collections from the natural range of this endemic tree species. We report 187 lichen species (and lower ranks) from 76 genera and 32 families.