Wild mushrooms are either epigeous or hypogeous heterotrophic organisms that belong to the Basidiomycota and Ascomycota divisions ( Chang & Lee, 2004 ; Crous et al ., 2006 ). Many of the wild mushroom species are becoming important parts of the livelihoods of rural people in different parts of the world ( Sarma et al ., 2010 ; Cai et al ., 2011 ), being collected as valuable Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) ( Chang & Lee, 2004 ; Boa, 2004 ). They help people to reduce vulnerability to poverty and strengthen the livelihoods through a reliable source of income. Globally, about 140,000 important mushroom species have been reported ( Boa, 2004 ). These can serve as sources of food ( Boa, 2004 ), medicine ( Ferreira et al ., 2010 ), enzymes and various industrial compounds ( Gryzenhout et al ., 2010 ).

Pegler & Rayner (1969) and Pegler (1977) noted that the East Africa region is rich in macrofungal species. Many of these species are presumed to be either cosmopolitan or to be widespread across Africa ( Pegler, 1977 ; Munyanziza, 1994 ). Like other East African countries, Ethiopian fungal flora remains unexplored ( Sitotaw et al ., 2015b ), as most regions and habitats in the country have been seldom studied ( Sitotaw et al ., 2015a ). Reports regarding wild mushroom diversity rarely exist ( Sitotaw et al ., 2015b ; Megersa et al ., 2017 ). This is due to a lack of research infrastructures as well as to a lack of fungal taxonomists and specialists in fungal ecology ( Osarenkhoe et al ., 2014 ). Finally, and likely as a result, fungi are not included in the biodiversity database of the country ( IBC, 2005 ). This poor knowledge on Ethiopian fungal species is worrying as fungi are highly sensitive towards habitat disturbances, namely anthropogenic threats that are rife across the country ( IBC, 2005 ; Goldmann et al ., 2015 ).

Despite poor scientific knowledge on fungal diversity, wild mushroom hunting and utilization is a traditional common practice among the different tribes in the country ( Tuno, 2001 ; Semwal et al ., 2014 ). Mushrooms have been used for their nutritional, traditional and medicinal properties, and are also involved in local mythology ( Tuno, 2001 ; Abate, 2014 ). Equally to other wild edibles, they have also been used as a coping food during food shortage periods ( Lulekal et al ., 2011 , Alemu et al ., 2012 ). In some local markets mushrooms are also available ( Abate, 2014 ), where they are sold by the local people to earn some income to supplement the household economy.

In this review, we aimed to provide basic information about wild mushrooms in Ethiopia by assessing the available documents and to create awareness for conservation and a wider use of mycological resources in the country. This paper aims to serve as a basic document for further mycological studies in the country, and elsewhere in the region with similar scenarios.

Functionally wild mushrooms are categorized as saprophytes, that obtain nutrients from dead organic materials; parasitic which depend on living plants and mycorrhizal, that form associations with host plants from which each partner gets benefits from each other ( Ferris et al ., 2000 ).

Mushrooms also tend to be linked to the vegetation of an area. Hence, understanding the ecology of host or keystone species helps to find the possible associated taxa in any habitat ( Härkönen et al ., 2003 ). In Ethiopia there are diverse habitats ( Friis et al ., 2010 ) characterized by a high richness of species, including the fungi ( Sitotaw et al ., 2015b ). However, the published literature to which we had access lack to portrait the country’s mycoflora profile but only focuses on a handful of species. Here we summarize and present a short overview of wild mushrooms and their related habitats in Ethiopia ( Table 1 ). The discussion analyses the following categories: (1) mushrooms in indigenous forests, (2) mushrooms in grazing lands, (3) mushrooms in termite mounds and (4) mushrooms in exotic tree plantations.

Mushroom cultivation can contribute towards the goal of habitat conservation and food security. Around the world about 60 mushroom species have been cultivated commercially ( Chang & Miles, 2004 ). The most common ones include Agaricus bisporus, Lentinula edodes, Pleurotus ostreatus, Flammulina velutipes, Volvariella volvacea, Grifola frondosa, and Pholiota nameko ( Gizaw, 2010 ). In Ethiopia, the practice of mushroom cultivation is a recent activity, mostly restricted to urban areas ( Yehuala, 2008 ; Abate, 2014 ). Agricultural and agro-industrial wastes have been used at a small scale to produce four most commonly cultivated mushrooms: A. bisporus, L. edodes, P. ostreatus ( Yehuala, 2008 ; Gebrelibanos et al ., 2016 ) and P. florida ( Gebrelibanos et al ., 2016 ). The levels of essential and non-essential metals in cultivated mushrooms such as P. ostreatus and P. florida were also studied in Haramaya, Oromia Region ( Gebrelibanos et al ., 2016 ). However, lack of awareness and cultivation skills still leave plenty of room for improvement and growth regarding mushroom cultivation ( Yehuala, 2008 ; Muleta et al., 2013 ).

Owing to their flavor and nutritional value, the consumption of cultivated mushrooms is now constantly increasing, particularly in the main cities. On the other hand, conservative eating habits are also hindering the transfer of cultivation technology at a local level, particularly in areas where mushroom consumption is not a common practice.

Many threats affecting wild mushrooms are similar to those that globally affect the biodiversity in Ethiopia ( IBC, 2005 ). The most important of all, deforestation, comes as a consequence of anthropogenic change to which global environmental and climate change also add ( Lulekal et al ., 2011 ). According to Teketay (2001 ), deforestation is immense and estimated between 150000 – 200000 ha of land per year. Factors contributing to habitat degradation, such as fires, are also affecting the fungal communities in forest systems ( Vásquez-Gassibe et al ., 2016 ), which is also a recurrent phenomenon in the natural forest systems in the country. This adversely influences the macrofungi and diminishes their diversity and production ( Miller & Lodge, 1997 ). Such impact also limits the benefits that can be obtained from fungal resources. Thus, urgent conservation strategies and actions are needed, giving special considerations to those species currently used by the local people.

The reviewed references in this document highlight the existence of a valuable mycoflora in Ethiopia. Also, reveal some ecological niches in which important wild mushrooms exist. However, they miss to portrait the fungal diversity profiles in the country overall. Some of the taxa reported in some references are also not properly identified as they are only registered with their local names ( Alemu et al ., 2012 ). This also applies to other countries in the Region that supposed to have high potential linked to this natural resource as well, and reveals the need to accomplish thorough scientific studies in order to get a glimpse of the vast number of fungal species across the Region. Furthermore, the status of many wild mushroom species is also unclear, as habitat degradation is immense. We believe that further studies involving close examinations of different habitats are needed, since there might be yet unknown species with valuable potential but equally unknown uses.

According to our review, many are the possible options to widen the cultivation of mushrooms at small and large scales. At a small-scale level, homestead cultivation is possible using locally available substrates. Plantation forests in Ethiopia and also in others countries in the region could provide opportunities to introduce important mushroom species and can be used for large scale cultivation purposes. Globally highly appreciated taxa such as Boletus pinophilus, B. edulis and Lactarius deliciosus could be produced in plantation forests by means of seedling mycorrhization ( Högberg & Piearce, 1986 ; Perry et al ., 1987 ; Águeda et al ., 2008 ; Mediavilla et al ., 2016 ). Thus, adopting and scaling up of mycorrhization technologies may offer incentives for widening mushroom cultivation practices. This could also be a major future research area. Also, wood waste could be used ( Sefidi & Etemad, 2015 ) to cultivate important medicinal species such as Pleurotus ostreatus, Ganaoderma lucidum and Coriolus versicolor in natural and plantation forest systems.

We thank Dr. Wubalem Tadesse, the general director of the Ethiopian Environment and Forestry Research Institute for directing us towards this important topic of research in Ethiopia. We also thank Dr. Luis Santos del Blanco (IDForest) for his helpful comments for improving this paper.