Effects of climate on the productivity of desert truffles beneath hyper-arid conditions

Abstract

Desert truffles are edible hypogenous fungi that are very well adapted to conditions of aridity in arid and semi-arid regions. This study aims to highlight the influence of climatic factors on the productivity of desert truffles under hyper-arid climatic conditions of the Sahara Desert in Algeria, with assumptions that the more varying climatic factors, mainly rainfall, are more crucial for the development and production of desert truffles. At seven separate sites, desert truffles were collected by systematic sampling between 2006 and 2012. The effects of climate parameters of each site on the productivities (g/ha/year) of desert truffle species were tested using generalized linear models (GLMs). The annual mean of the total production recorded for all three harvested species (Terfezia arenaria, Terfezia claveryi, and Tirmania nivea) was 785.43 ± 743.39 g/ha. Tirmania nivea was commonly present over the sampled sites with an occurrence of 70 ± 10.1%. GLMs revealed that total and specific productivities were closely positively related to autumnal precipitations occurring during October-December, which is the critical pre-breeding period for both desert truffles and host plant species. The other climatic parameters have statistically no effect on the annual variation of desert truffle productivity.

Desert truffles from northeastern Algerian coasal dunes: Ecology, identification and symbiosis

“…In Algeria, they are mentioned in the arid and semi-arid zones [10,11]. However, very few references mention that desert truffles occur in areas with Mediterranean climate and a wide range of soil properties [28b].…”

“…In Algeria, greater attention has been focused on Southern and Western sands [10,11] no studies are as yet, however, available on the northeastern sands of the country. Therefore, the current article is the first to review knowledge on ecology, symbiosis and diversity of desert truffles of those coastal dunes, where collection and sale provides a seasonal trade that creates a local truffle market under development.…”

Effects of Soil Chemical Properties and Seasonality on Mycorrhizal Status of Prickly Pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) Planted in Hot Arid Steppe Rangelands

“…In addition, the frequency and intensity of mycorrhization are dependent on several factors such as the age of the host species (Kessler et al 2010), the physicochemical properties of soil (Escudero & Mendoza 2005;Pande & Tarafdar 2004), biogeographical location, seasonal and climatic variations (Bradai et al 2015;Gui & Nobel 1992;Mekahlia et al 2013;Pimienta-Barrios et al 2002), the number of propagules in the soil, and sporulation (Bohrer et al 2004;Collier et al 2003). …”

Ethnomycological survey of traditional usage and indigenous knowledge on desert truffles among the native Sahara Desert people of Algeria

“…It is characterized by low and erratic rainfall chiefly occurring in winter with annual isohyets that range Q4 between 50 and 100 mm. Average annual temperatures are high ( $ 30 1C), with absolute maxima exceeding 50 1C in July-August and minimum temperatures in January ranging from 2 to 9 1C (Bradai et al, 2013(Bradai et al, , 2015.…”

“…heralding the end of winter and the beginning of the hot season, with a specific temporal distribution of rainfall amounts along the year (Bradai et al, 2015), but also depending on the type of soil and climate, and abundance of host plants ( Kagan-Zur and Roth-Bejerano, 2008;Kagan-Zur et al, 2014). In general, the distribution of truffle species is closely linked to climatic and edaphic conditions (Kagan-Zur and Roth-Bejerano, 2008;Brad Q2 ai et al, 2014Brad Q2 ai et al, , 2015.…”