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eNews 32 - July 2020

Auricularia sp. photo Steve Axford

What a Fungimapping season we've had so far!  


I'm having a great time contributing to the Fungimap project on iNaturalist this season and, clearly, other fungimappers are too, really ramping up our mapping efforts. The stats say it all - 26,123 observations of 932 species by 290 people.  And that's the second-highest number of records across iNaturalist projects so well done all!

For those not yet on iNaturalist, I encourage you to give it a try. It's easy - enter your photographic record into the Fungimap project using the iNaturalist app, your smartphone fills in the location and date, you add the habitat and substrate info and, amazingly quickly, your record is uploaded.  See here for more detailed instructions, tips on photography, and how ID works.

Here in Perth, the rain finally arrived in June just as covid-19 restrictions started to lift and we could go out in small groups. There's certainly interest in forays but my advice is to limit numbers to 10 or less. That way the experience is good and trampling on fungi is minimised.

I am delighted to welcome two new Fungimap Committee members and our new Coordinator. We have become adept at video conferencing and, with most states now represented on the Committee, there are many more options for us to fulfill our national role.

Roz Hart
Fungimap President
Searching for fungi in the Perth Hills and on the sandplain

Videos for kids

Natural Resources SA Murray Darling Basin has produced three highly recommended videos for children - a good resource for teachers and for people new to fungi. 
The Kingdom of Fungi
  • how fungi get their food
  • how they are helpful to plants and animals
  • how they send messages on the ‘fungi-internet’
  • their shapes and how they spread their spores
How to go for a Fungi Walk
  • follow primary school children learning how to find and identify 10 ‘target’ species
How to use iNaturalist and the Fungimap Project
  • a guide to finding the iNaturalist app
  • logging in to the iNaturalist Fungimap Australia project
  • sharing photos of fungi
  • adding information
  • joining the citizen science team
  • making your own records

Introducing Sophie


Sophie Green is our new Coordinator. She's from Fleurieu Peninsula in SA where she and her family have a regenerative farming business and are restoring native vegetation on their land. She has a strong background in conservation and community development through a range of organisations.

She's also a keen citizen scientist, is excited by fungi, and we are looking forward to her coming on board next week!

Fungimap bookshop goes gangbusters


It's been a hectic time for Graham Patterson - our longstanding and wonderful volunteer in Melbourne. He 'rescued' our store of books from our previous home base in the Royal Botanic Gardens when it went into lockdown. He made space for them at home and has spent the last two months packaging and posting books and leaflets out to customers hungry for information about fungi. 



 
 
Graham has also been able to secure new stocks of the really popular titles like A Field Guide to Tasmanian Fungi, The Magical World of Fungi by Patricia Negus, illustrated in the most exquisite watercolour paintings, and even some copies of Bruce Fuhrer's classic A Field Guide to Australian Fungi. Here's what's been happening:
  • 200 packages were sent to customers in May/June - twice the number last year
  • People in rural and regional areas ordered more than twice as many packages as those in metro areas

More trees for elusive earpick


Reiner Richter, our inveterate and knowledgeable recorder, discovered more trees with the very rare Auriscalpium sp. "Blackwood". This fungus was assessed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Previously, Auriscalpium sp. "Blackwood" was known from only two sites in Victoria - Blackwood at Olinda. Reiner has located further populations at Kurth Kiln Regional Park and Bunyip State Park. All are on rough-barked standing eucalypts.

The common species of Auriscalpium in the northern hemisphere, Auriscalpium vulgare, has a long stipe arising from the side of the pileus, hence the name earpick fungus. The Victorian species has a very short stipe buried in the eucalypt bark.

Welcome new Committee members - Sherie Bruce and Susie Webster


... bringing a wealth of knowledge, ideas and connections to our team.
Sherie is an Arrente woman of Mpwantwe (Alice Springs), with a deep connection to Yolgnu of Ramingining, Arnhem Land NT. Currently living on Dhurumbal country in Rockhampton, Sherie is an Environmental Scientist with experience in the environment and conservation sector and is fascinated with Fungi.
Susie is from Brisbane. She has been with the Queensland Mycological Society since 2012 and participated in many fungi forays, workshops and the Sunshine Coast Councils Vertical Bioblitz. She assisted Pat Leonard in the IUCN Fungal Redlist workshop in 2019 that was successful in listing many species.
Here's a first - Mutinus cartilagineus in iNaturalist

A new member of Fungimap recently started posting observations on iNaturalist, with the help of our ID volunteer.
Tom May (who regularly checks Fungimap iNaturalist records) noticed that one of them was Mutinus cartilagineus - a rarely reported stinkhorn.

It's a short spore-bearing receptacle, with a blunt top when mature. From Mount Doran in Victoria, it was the first report of this species on iNaturalist. As with any fungi social media platform, many observations are not identifiable to species, but every now and then a gem pops up among all the little brown mushrooms!
Image: lilcadybug CC BY-NC

Mapping fungimappers!


Are you part of a group interested in fungi? Perhaps you meet up, learn, run fungi forays, and/or spread the word about the importance of fungi to ecology. If so, please let us know.

We want to see how Fungimap can help build and promote this growing community of fungimappers and what knowledge we might share.
My fungi group

We need your support - buy a book, join Fungimap, tell your friends.....

  • We record and map fungi in Australia.

  • We spread the word about the essential role of fungi in biodiversity.

  • We advocate for fungal conservation and investment in mycology.

  • We would love you to join us and help with this work.

 
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Our mailing address is:
Fungimap Inc.
c/o Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
Private Bag 2000
South Yarra, Vic 3141 Australia


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Fungimap Inc. · c/o Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne · Private Bag 2000 · South Yarra, Vic 3141 · Australia

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