Daniel Winkler

Bio: Daniel Winkler is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ophiocordyceps sinensis. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 102 citations.

Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) Production and Sustainability on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Himalayas

Abstract: Caterpillar fungus ( Ophiocordyceps = Cordyceps sinensis ) is an entomophagous fungus endemic to the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It has become the most important source of cash income in wide areas of the Tibetan Plateau, where it is known as yartsa gunbu , ‘summer grass winter worm’. The market is driven by Chinese consumers, who refer to it as dongchong xiacao . The value of this myco-medicinal has increased by 900% between 1997 and 2008, creating a globally-unique rural fungal economy. However, actual annual production data is still not available for many areas of the Tibetan Plateau in China as well as the Himalayan production areas of India, Nepal and Bhutan. This paper analyses available production data and estimates the total annual production in the range of 85 to 185 tons for all production areas. Current availability of multi-annual production figures is limited and allows only for provisional estimates regarding the sustainability of current harvesting quantities. Centuries of collection indicate that caterpillar fungus is a resilient resource. Still, unprecedented collection intensity, climate change and the recent economic dependence of local economies on caterpillar fungus calls for sustainable resource management. Absence of long-term field studies indicating best management practices—at best in their infancy in some production areas—necessitate a degree of improvisation in designing resource management strategies. The development of easily implementable approaches that can rely on community support will be crucial for successful management. Most promising from a socio-economic, administrative and also mycological perspective is the establishment of an end date of the collection season, which might allow for sufficient spore dispersal to guarantee sustainability.

Cordyceps collected from Bhutan, an appropriate alternative of Cordyceps sinensis.

Abstract: Natural Cordyceps collected in Bhutan has been widely used as natural Cordyceps sinensis, an official species of Cordyceps used as Chinese medicines, around the world in recent years. However, whether Cordyceps from Bhutan could be really used as natural C. sinensis remains unknown. Therefore, DNA sequence, bioactive components including nucleosides and polysaccharides in twelve batches of Cordyceps from Bhutan were firstly investigated, and compared with natural C. sinensis. Results showed that the fungus of Cordyceps from Bhutan was C. sinensis and the host insect belonged to Hepialidae sp. In addition, nucleosides and their bases such as guanine, guanosine, hypoxanthine, uridine, inosine, thymidine, adenine, and adenosine, as well as compositional monosaccharides, partial acid or enzymatic hydrolysates, molecular weights and contents of polysaccharides in Cordyceps from Bhutan were all similar to those of natural C. sinensis. All data suggest that Cordyceps from Bhutan is a rational alternative of natural C. sinensis, which is beneficial for the improvement of their performance in health and medicinal food areas.

Impact of climate change on potential distribution of Chinese caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) in Nepal Himalaya.

Abstract: Climate change has already impacted ecosystems and species and substantial impacts of climate change in the future are expected. Species distribution modeling is widely used to map the current potential distribution of species as well as to model the impact of future climate change on distribution of species. Mapping current distribution is useful for conservation planning and understanding the change in distribution impacted by climate change is important for mitigation of future biodiversity losses. However, the current distribution of Chinese caterpillar fungus, a flagship species of the Himalaya with very high economic value, is unknown. Nor do we know the potential changes in suitable habitat of Chinese caterpillar fungus caused by future climate change. We used MaxEnt modeling to predict current distribution and changes in the future distributions of Chinese caterpillar fungus in three future climate change trajectories based on representative concentration pathways (RCPs: RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 6.0) in three different time periods (2030, 2050, and 2070) using species occurrence points, bioclimatic variables, and altitude. About 6.02% (8,989 km2) area of the Nepal Himalaya is suitable for Chinese caterpillar fungus habitat. Our model showed that across all future climate change trajectories over three different time periods, the area of predicted suitable habitat of Chinese caterpillar fungus would expand, with 0.11–4.87% expansion over current suitable habitat. Depending upon the representative concentration pathways, we observed both increase and decrease in average elevation of the suitable habitat range of the species.