I was lucky enough to catch a lecture about Conserving Fungi by Alden Dirks, the president of the Madison Mycological Society. Hosted at the Urban Ecology Center, the hour-long presentation covered the absence of research related to endangered fungi, information about citizen science and local forays, and addressed the lack of support for fungi conservation. (Yes, I bought a glow in the dark t-shirt. How could I not?)
The thing that struck me most about this lecture was the sheer lack of funding and interest in fungi and the need for their conservation. The IUCN Red List is an international resource meant to inventory the conservation status of species. Though there are almost 70,000 animal species and over 25,000 plant species on the Red List, there are only 56 varieties of protected fungi! Considering that the global fungi market is worth $42 billion annually, and the number of medications derived from fungi (like penicillin!), you’d think we’d have a stronger interest in conservation.
The lecture also covered information about several species of native and invasive fungi, as well as the way that fungi can promote biodiversity or diminish it, essentially depending on whether or not they’re native. Two of my favorite fungi are below.
Golden Oyster mushroom, a species native to Asia that is thought to have first escaped from a farm outside Madison WI, is extremely invasive. They are unusually swift decomposers that may be outcompeting native species and reducing diversity as a result. If you find some, harvest them all with no guilt! To send a sample to a biologist, check out this page. (Golden Oysters are now found in Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.)
The honey mushroom, or armillaria ostoyae, is a pathogenic fungi that survives by entangling with tree roots, then feeding off the roots until the tree dies. One specific honey mushroom known as the “humongous fungus” covers 2,385 acres of the Malheur National Forest in Oregon, and is known as the largest living organism on earth. It classifies as a single organism because it “has a set of cells that are genetically identical and communicate to each other”. Not all honey mushrooms are nearly this big, and there many poisonous lookalikes, so it isn’t a beginner-forager-friendly species! (More honey mushrooms resources here and here.)
Discoveries about the symbiotic relationship that most plants have with mycorrhizal fungi and the way that forest fungi can “communicate and collectively manage resources” demonstrates how much we underestimate this fascinating species. Growing up in such an anthropocentric culture means making extra effort to consider the quiet intelligence of nature, and practice deeper respect for the other life forms we share this borrowed planet with.
I can’t think of a single scientific study in the last few decades that has demonstrated that plants or animals are dumber than we think. It’s always the opposite, right? What we’re revealing is the fact that they have a capacity to learn, to have memory, and we’re at the edge of a wonderful revolution in really understanding the sentience of other beings.
– Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass
Below are some more resources for those looking to broaden the scope of their fungi knowledge or practice citizen science in the field.
- Mushroom Observer – A website designed to help people identify mushrooms they’ve found and record observations about their findings. Great resource for citizen scientists and foragers!
- I Naturalist – A place to post photos of your finds tagged at the geographic spot you found them, so that others can help ID if necessary and the info can be used as a resource for scientists.
- North American Mycoflora Project – Hand over your foraged fungi samples to a herbarium for DNA sequencing and help map macrofungi across North America!
- Wisconsin Environmental Organizations – A great resource for fellow Wisconsinites who are interested in getting more involved in conservation.
- Love, Sex, and Mushrooms – This book about by mycologist Dr. Candy Raper explores her life as a pioneer in researching sexual reproduction in a fungi, as well as her experiences as a leading woman of science in a very sexist environment.
- How to Change Your Mind – Michael Pollan’s book on psychadelics details his personal experience taking ethneogens (from LSD to toad venom) and naturally touches on the therapeutic effects that “magic” mushrooms can have.
rose grows things. 