Comparative analysis of air, soil and water mycoflora of Samahni Area, District Bhimber Azad Kashmir, Pakistan

Fungi are potential sources of different diseases for humans, animals and plants. The present research aimed to collect, isolate and identify different fungi with their prevalence ratio in different habitats of Samahni area, Azad Kashmir (Pakistan). Mycoflora prevails in diverse habitats viz: air, water and soil. From sampling sites, air-borne fungal spores were trapped and grown on different culture media viz: potato dextrose agar (PDA) and water agar (WA). The soil and aqua mycoflora was analyzed using PDA and/or WA media using different techniques. A total of 35 different fungal species were investigated to belong to 18 different genera. The density of identified fungal species in each sample was as follows: air mycoflora (AMF), 20 species; soil mycoflora (SMF), 32 species; water mycoflora (WMF), 11 species, respectively. This differential occurrence could be due to variability in geographical location, fungal growth substrates in different prevailing habitats. A considerable significant difference was seen among the fungal colonies of AMF (31.7%), SMF (50.7%) and WMF (17.4%). It was noted that soil mycoflora was more frequently depicted because land provides best environment and nourishment for growth and reproduction of fungi. It was also observed that some fungi were common in water and soil substrates which indicate that some species of soil fungi do use water as mode of distribution and dispersal. The most dominant fungal species were Cladosporium cladosporioides (7.1%) in air, Fusarium oxysporum (4.9%) in soil and Fusarium oxysporum (11.3%) in water samples. The prevalence and their subsequence impacts in forest ecosystem of Samahni are discussed with special reference of their importance to human life.   Key words: Fungi, comparative study, Mycoflora, Azad Kashmir, air pollution, forest.