Workshop by the Brazilian Fungal Taxonomists Network promotes immersion in the FFB platform and coordinates actions to improve knowledge about fungi

The Workshop of the Brazilian Fungal Taxonomists Network was held at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden (JBRJ) between September 29 and October 3, 2025, bringing together experts in mycology and lichenology from different institutions across the country. The activity is part of the actions of the project “Funga do Brasil: taxonomy and bioinformatics of fungi for the Catalogue of Life,” funded by CNPq (Universal Call for Proposals 2023 – Process 403547/2023-7), under the coordination of Elisandro Ricardo Drechsler-Santos (Federal University of Santa Catarina - UFSC) and Domingos Cardoso (JBRJ researcher).

The meeting was marked by an immersion in the Flora and Funga do Brasil (FFB) digital platform, with in-person sessions held in the rooms of Solar da Imperatriz (ENBT/JBRJ), in the RB Herbarium, as well as moments of scientific and institutional integration.

Main activities and discussions - During the workshop, participants reviewed all the features of the FFB platform related to fungi, with special attention to the guidelines for the inclusion and curation of taxonomic data. The criteria for the preparation of the national list of fungi were discussed, with an emphasis on endemic species and the inclusion of descriptions and illustrations for public consultation.

In addition, a practical hackathon session was held on the FFB platform, with the insertion of real data by experts, which allowed the identification of areas for improvement and technical adjustments to the interface and editing flow. The coordinators of the Flora and Funga do Brasil platform, Domingos Cardoso and Fabiana Filardi (JBRJ), presented the history of the system's development, challenges faced, and advances achieved, as well as future projections for integration with other databases.

Another key point of discussion was the presentation of fungaR, a computational package developed in the R language that will assist researchers in accessing, analyzing, and curating taxonomic and distribution data on fungi associated with the FFB platform. FungaR will facilitate the download and summarization of datasets published in Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) format, integrating efficiently with the ecosystem of other computational tools for further analysis. In addition to access to national data, the tool was designed during the Workshop to enable interaction with global fungal repositories such as the Catalogue of Life (CoL), MycoBank, Index Fungorum, and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), enabling the validation of taxonomic names, the retrieval of specimen records, and the identification of potential occurrences for future inclusion in the FFB. This initiative represents an important step toward promoting reproducible workflows in mycological research, expanding the capacity for specialized data exploration and curation by taxonomists and biodiversity managers.

The enthusiasm in the presentations and exchanges of experiences reinforced the group's commitment to consolidating the Brazilian Fungal Taxonomists Network, in addition to highlighting the strategic potential of the FFB platform to support public policies, conservation actions, and scientific studies on fungal diversity in the country.

According to coordinator Ricardo Drechsler-Santos, “This workshop reinforces the importance of integration between specialists in mycology and lichenology, allowing not only to improve the FFB platform, but also to consolidate the Brazilian Fungal Taxonomists Network. This coordination strengthens the curation of data on the country's fungal diversity, supporting research, public policies, and conservation actions.”

"With this workshop, the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden reaffirms its institutional role and the federal government's commitment to the management and qualification of taxonomic lists of Brazilian biodiversity. This responsibility, officially established by Ordinance GM/MMA No. 1,070 of May 22, 2024, assigns the JBRJ the coordination of the lists under the Biodiversity Data Management Program (PDBio). By strengthening the country's taxonomic base, we ensure not only the advancement of scientific knowledge, but also national sovereignty over the study and documentation of our biodiversity," says Domingos Cardoso, a researcher at JBRJ and coordinator of the FFB platform.

Future prospects - One of the highlights of the meeting was the proposal to institutionalize satellite meetings of the Brazilian Fungal Taxonomists Network at each edition of the Brazilian Congress of Mycology (CBM) — inspired by the model already consolidated in the annual meetings of the Brazilian Flora Network during the National Congress of Botany. This proposal aims to ensure continuity, integration, and coordination among researchers who contribute to the FFB platform, reinforcing the commitment to quality and constant updating of the national database on fungi.

Participants: Elisandro Ricardo Drechsler-Santos (UFSC), Domingos Cardoso (JBRJ), Fabiana Filardi (JBRJ), Juliano Marcon Baltazar (UFSCar), Jair Putzke (Unipampa), Marisa Terezinha Lopes Putzke (Unisc), Luciana da Silva Canêz (UFMS), Nelson Menolli Jr. (IFSP), Diogo Henrique Costa de Rezende (UFC), Kelmer Martins da Cunha (UFSC).