The beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia is home to several forests and parks that houses many species of Fungi. Our story gives a look into the biodiversity within the valley and tells us about how important it is for multiple ecosystems and our health. The evident lag for mushroom conservation compared to plant and animal conservation is a cause for concern.
Phellinus robiniae, commonly known as the “Cracked Cap Polypore,” "This mushroom is harmless, but can be toxic if consumed over a long period of time." It was found while walking a nearby mountain biking trail. It's large size made an easy discovery as well as the tree being covered in multiple numbers.
The Pear Shaped Puffballs pictured below were another find in the Massunutten Western Slopes. The spores of this mushroom were visible as it blew out the top when pressure was applied. We had found this patch of Puffballs on a dead tree that had fallen long ago. The tree also had older Trametes versicolor, or "Turkey Tails" around the exposed tree.
Fungi are some of the most diverse groups of organisms on our planet.
They are important for their role of maintaining the forest health. If we compare ourselves to mushrooms then we can see the very likeness of our lives. Mushrooms can breathe, consume other life forms, and find a companion in order to germinate and bear fruit by using their own root systems. "With global diversity estimated at 0.8 million to 5.1 million species, they are extremely diverse."
On our trips to different areas in the Shenandoah valley, we could see that there is a population in Harrisonburg that forage for the edible fungi such as Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) and Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus). In each park or forest there is some sort of restrictions on what you are allowed to harvest and how much of it we can take.
Wade Banks, a colleague and friend. His fascination and passion about fungi led me to ask if he was interested in becoming a part of this story.(Right)
"Mycologists Are Few And Far Between. We Are Under-funded, Poorly Represented In The Context Of Other Sciences - Ironic, As The Very Foundation Of Our Ecosystems Are Directly Dependent Upon Fungi, Which Ultimately Create The Foundation Of Soils." - Paul Stamets -
The goal is to show the world the importance of conservation of fungi and how we can all start to enhance and widen our awareness. In order to protect the world's fungi and plants, we have to understand how they are threatened and figure out which specific species are under close observation due to high probability of extinction in the oncoming years. According to the 2020 State of the World's Plants and Fungus report, "a mere 285 of 148,000 described fungal species are assessed on the Red List, equating to 0.2% of fungal species." The Red List that is mentioned, is a list of species currently facing extinction level decrease in population.
On a global scale, there has been very few studies on fungal diversity and distribution.
There has been a study that was released this year on understanding the patterns of fungal bio-geography and the environmental factors that effect those patterns using data which was then entered into the Global Fungi database. The study's approach allows one to address the biogeography, ecology, and diversity of each
(Right) An example of the GlobalFungi database map displaying locations of different Fungal occurences
There is a world of plants and fungi that communicate so well that their ecosystems are what support our own existence. It is a true wonder to see how much of that community is relying on fungi. It is time for awareness of the needs of these important organisms.
(Up)Drone footage from Kelly Lacy via Pexels
Citations and Sources:
Davoodian, N. (2015, October 15). A Long Way to Go: Protecting and Conserving Endangered Fungi. Retrieved November 24, 2020, from https://www.nybg.org/blogs/science-talk/2015/10/a-long-way-to-go-protecting-and-conserving-endangered-fungi/
Robinton, Charles. “The Ethics of Mushroom Foraging.” Fin + Forage, Fin + Forage, 19 Nov. 2020, finandforage.com/coastal-foraging/the-ethics-of-mushroom-foraging.
Větrovský, T., Morais, D., Kohout, P. et al. GlobalFungi, a global database of fungal occurrences from high-throughput-sequencing metabarcoding studies. Sci Data 7, 228 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0567-7
Deborah Wendiro, Alex Paul Wacoo, Graham Wise, Identifying indigenous practices for cultivation of wild saprophytic mushrooms: responding to the need for sustainable utilization of natural resources, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 10.1186/s13002-019-0342-z, 15, 1, (2019).
9 Health Benefits of Lion’s Mane Mushroom (Plus Side Effects). Retrieved December 3, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/lions-mane-mushroom