Study
Fungal diversity revisited: 2.2 to 3.8 million species
Hawksworth, David L.; Lücking, Robert
Microbiology Spectrum, 2017
A reassessment of global fungal species richness combining plant-to-fungus ratio methods, high-throughput environmental sequencing, and rates of description in well-studied regions.
- Studied in
- Fungi
- Sample size
- synthesis of ratio-based and sequence-based diversity estimates
The plausible range for global fungal diversity is 2.2 to 3.8 million species, against roughly 120,000 described — meaning something like 95% of fungi have never been named.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Fungal diversity is far greater than the long-standing 1.5 million estimate, and description rates are nowhere near keeping pace.
How NatureHQ reads it
A wide range honestly stated is more useful than a precise number badly founded, and this paper is a good model for that. The comparison that gives it force: there are around 400,000 described plant species and around 120,000 described fungal ones, and the true fungal figure is probably several times the plant figure. The kingdom people know least about is very likely the larger one.
- Estimates rest on extrapolation; the range spans nearly a factor of two.
- Sequence-based species delimitation in fungi is unsettled and affects any count.
- Sampling is heavily biased towards temperate northern regions.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Fungi
Something like 95% of fungal species have no name
Fungi
No photograph, app or website can tell you a wild mushroom is safe — the deadly ones look ordinary and do not make you ill for hours
Orchids
There are around 28,000 orchid species — and most of them grow on trees rather than in soil
Slime moulds
A slime mould is not a fungus and is not closely related to one
Published by: Academic book publishersPublished as an academic monograph.
doi.org/10.1128/microbiolspec.funk-0052-2016
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-09.