Biogeography of polypores in Malesia, Southeast Asia

Biogeography of polypores distributed in the Malesian region is reviewed. Some of the species reported from this region are pantropical or paleotropical and widely distributed along the equator. Several species are restricted to lowland areas of Malesia and adjacent regions, and can be classified as Asian or Asian-Oceanian tropical species. Some species have only been recorded from lowland areas of Malesia at present, but detailed distributions are unclear for many of them. Some lowland Malesian species are also distributed in temperate areas of East Asia; among them, few species are circumglobal in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas many others are tropical species showing continuous distributions up to the warm temperate areas of East Asia. Species recorded from highland areas of Malesia include tropical species common to lowland Malesia, temperate species common to temperate Asia, and endemic species in highland areas of Malesia and adjacent regions. Regarding the factors that delimitate distribution of the Malesian polypores, I discuss polypore host preference, response to physical environmental factors, and dispersal ability. Systematics and ecological characteristics are briefly discussed for selected Malesian polypores: Corneroporus subcitrinus, Paratrichaptum accuratum, Postia stellifera and Roseofavolus eos.