12/17/01 -- Mushroom Enthusiasts Create UK's First Map of Fungus Sites

Mushroom Enthusiasts Create UK's First Map of Fungus Sites

IT USED to be the sort of thing known only by wise old country people - where to find wild mushrooms. But now enthusiasts from all over the country have come together to plot the locations of every kind of fungus, tasty and poisonous, handsome and hideous, and produce what is, in effect, the first mushroom map of Britain.

It is the first list of British IFAs, or Important Fungus Areas, and it marks a scientific step forward in protecting a range of species that have been much neglected in conservation terms, compared with, say, birds, butterflies, wild flowers or mammals.

More than 500 IFAs have been listed, ranging from Epping Forest on the outskirts of London to Curr Wood in Inverness, and from Carmarthenshire in Wales to County Down in Northern Ireland. The areas contain waxcaps and wood blewits, fly agarics and puffballs, penny buns and chanterelles, tooth fungi, cup fungi, bracket fungi and thousands of smaller species which do not have English names. The project, the idea of the well-known wildlife writer Peter Marren, was carried out by the wildflower conservation charity Plantlife with volunteers from the Association of British Fungus Groups and the British Mycological Society (mycology is the study of fungi).

It was done because hitherto no one has known the best fungus sites in Britain, and indeed, no one knows how many species of fungus there are in Britain - not even approximately. A conservative estimate is about 12,000 (including fungi associated with lichens), but new species are constantly being discovered, and the real number of UK species might be nearer 20,000. A single site may support more than 2,000 fungal species: the best site recorded so far in Britain, Esher Common in Surrey, has about 3,100 species, followed by Slapton Ley in Devon with 2,500. Many well-wooded sites can have upwards of 300 larger fungal species, and for some exceptional well-recorded sites this can rise to more than 500.

There are two difficulties in surveying them: firstly, many mushrooms cannot be reliably identified in the field, and secondly, only a small proportion of them will be visible on a single visit (some do not even produce fruiting bodies - the actual "mushroom" that appear above ground - every year).

A site gained a place on the map if it met one of four criteria: it contained at least five rare species, had an exceptionally rich group of species, was an example of an important fungus habitat type, or merited further investigation. In its report, Plantlife said the exercise had its limitations: "Given the incompleteness of fungus recording, the list should not be regarded as in any way definitive but more of a reflection of the present state of knowledge from those who participated.

Martin Harper, Plantlife's conservation director, said: "Fungi are of tremendous environmental importance, yet until now we have been unable to care for them properly because we simply have not had the relevant information.

"The interim list of IFAs will help target conservation efforts to ensure that key sites get proper protection, and we hope it will encourage further recording to improve our knowledge of this extraordinary group of organisms." Fungi were "an amazingly under-recorded group," he said.

Leading article, Review, page 3

WHERE THE FUNGI ARE FOUND

GARN-DDYRYS, BLORENGE, POWYS, WALES: This unimproved upland, formerly the site of an ironworks settling pond, is among the best grassland locations for fungi in the UK with a high concentration of species in a relatively small area. Despite its importance for fungi, the area is not currently protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, although the site owners are sympathetic to fungi conservation needs. Left: the attractive pink waxcap Hygrocybe calyptraeformis which is a priority Biodiversity Action Plan species.

EPPING FOREST, ESSEX, ENGLAND: A classic fungus site that has been recorded annually for more than 120 years and is still a favourite of mycologists. The site's list of rare or threatened species includes oak polypore (Buglossoporus pulvinus), found there for the first time this year, and the earthball (Scleroderma citrinum), found mostly on acidic soils.

PEMBREY, CARMARTHENSHIRE, WALES: Pembrey Forest consists of a mix of dunes, conifer plantation and salt marsh and is the site for five rare species, including the bizarre-looking and endangered Collybia racemosa. This fungus, which has no common English name, has the most amazing stipe (or stalk) of any fungus on the planet.

CLOUGHEY DUNES, COUNTY DOWN, NORTHERN IRELAND: This dune grassland near Newtownards is owned by the local authority and has a rich dune mycota, or fungus population, including a priority Biodiversity Action Plan species, the olivaceous earth-tongue (Microglossum olivaceum) which has seriously declined in much of Europe but is here in good numbers.

CURR WOOD, INVERNESS-SHIRE, SCOTLAND: Eleven rare species were found on a single visit to this Caledonian pinewood, making it an extraordinary site given that this is the first year it has been monitored. The owner is a mycologist and is sensitive to the needs of fungi, including earthstar toadstools (Geastrum sessile) Error: Unable to read footer file.