Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2005, Page 73

COPROPHILOUS FUNGI FROM THE FAROE ISLANDS
71
phils, it is concluded that the differences
observed, both in community structure
and species richness, are due either to đif-
ferences in the digestive systems of the
animals or the physical and/or chemical
nature of the droppings of the two spe-
cies.
Records
Information on the dung samples and their
origin is given in Table 1. Following the
convention of Vesterholt (1998), the islands
on which fungi occurred are indicated by
the following abbreviations :- Borðoy, Bo;
Eysturoy, Ey; Kunoy, Ku; Streymoy, St;
Vágar, Va; Viðoy, Vi. Notes on species,
and the sample numbers on which they
were recorded, are given below. Species
not recorded for the Faroe Islands in the
checklist of Vesterholt (1998), which in-
cludes all records from Møller (1945;
1958), are in bold type. Dried material
and/or slides of samples annotated with
(H) has been placed in the Herbarium of
the Botanical Museum, Copenhagen (C).
ZYGOMYCOTINA
Phycomyces blakesleeanus Burgeff
Ey, Ku. 38, 44/04.
Pilaira moreaui Y. Ling
St, Vi. 33, 34, 42/04.
Pilobolus crystallinus (F.H. Wigg.) Tode
Bo, Ey, Ku, St, Va, Vi. This is perhaps
positive confirmation of the presence of P.
crystallinus in the Faroe Islands, since the
record in the check list (Vesterholt, 1998)
is presumably based on that in Møller
(1958), in which he states that ‘The au-
thor has not seen any material...but Mr.
N. Petersen....describes it so well in his
letter that there can be little doubt that
this species belongs to the Faroese flora.’
There is no indication of any inicroscopic
examination which would have been nec-
essary to identify the species. 33, 36, 38,
41, 42, 44, 45, 47-49/04.
Pilobolus kleinii Tiegh.
Bo, Ey, Ku, St, Va. 33, 37, 45, 47,
50/04.
ASCOMY COTINA
Pezizales
Ascobolus albidus H. Crouan & P. Cr-
ouan (Fig. 1)
Bo, Ey, Ku, St, Va, Vi. One of the com-
monest fungi on the Faroese samples, oc-
curring on 80 % of the collections. An
interesting phenomenon was observed on
material from collection 43(H)/04, on
which both A. albidus and A. stictoideus
occurred. One apothecium was typical of
A. albidus, but the asci contained four
typical A. albidus spores and fbur spores
of the same size but with ornamentation
chracteristic of A. stictoideus, raising the
possibility that hybridization may have oc-
curred. 31, 32, 36-39, 41(H)-50/04.
Ascobolus furfuraceus Pers.
Ey. 39(H)/04.
Ascobolus stictoideus Speg. (Figs 2-4)
Bo, Ey, St, Vi. Sorne material on collection
47/04 was of a variant with no exospore
pigment or ornamentation. The spores