Systematics and Evolution, Part A The Mycota

character evolution (Hibbett 2007 ). Nonethe-
less, it is plausible that the ancestor of
the Agaricomycetes may have been a corti-
cioid fungus. Alternatively, the paraphyletic
arrangement of Tremellomycetes and Dacry-
mycetes within Agaricomycotina could indi-
cate that the ancestor was a jelly fungus.

3. Ecological Roles

Agaricomycetes function as saprotrophs,

pathogens, andmutualists. The group contains

the major concentration of ECM taxa, as well as

white-rot and brown-rot decayers of massive

woody substrates. The distribution of

major ecological roles across the orders of

Fig. 14.9Agaricomycetidae, including Agaricales (a,c),
Amylocorticales (b), Atheliales (d), and Boletales (e,f).
(a)Lepiota lilacea.(b)Anomoporia bombycina.(c)Lyco-
perdon perlatum.(d)Athelia salicum.(e)Boletus lupi-

nus.(f)Serpula lacrymans. Photos by Guillermo Mun ̃oz

(a,c,e), Yu-Cheng Dai [b, reprinted from Binder et al.

( 2010 ), with permission of the Mycological Society of

America], Paul Diederich (d), and Doris Haas (f)

Agaricomycetes 383