Discovering the Diversity of the alpine ascomycetous fungi in severely vulnerable ecosystems of glacial and other mountainous lakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mycological Society MYCOBH, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mycobiota in Bosnia and Herzegovina in general is still poorly studied, while fungal diversity in mountainous lakes is completely unknown. These lakes often represent remote and isolated habitats with harsh weather conditions and pronounce subalpine to alpine climate. In these extreme habitat types, some of the highly endangered and rare fungal species might occur. The aim of this project is therefore to record and identify fungi inhabiting some of the most important glacial and mountainous lakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina to develop a preliminary checklist. Mountains cover large areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina ́s territory. With a mean altitude of 625 meters a.s.l. it is one of the highest countries in Southeastern Europe. Most of its mountains belong to the Dinaric Alps that stretch in the northwest- southeast direction through several countries. These mountains are built from different geological components and are home to scattered and various types of freshwater ecosystems many of which are well preserved and isolated primarily thanks to their remoteness and unapproachability. The alpine mycobiota of Southeast Europe is poorly understood in general. A significant number of mountainous lakes exists, which mainly originated from glacial activity in the high mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose mycobiota is still completely unexplored. Therefore, these specific habitat types could be one of the last well-preserved alpine reservoirs for some extremely rare stenovalent fungal species.