Fungal Forays

Forest and Bird, Issue 309, 1 August 2003, Page 32

Fungal Forays

Foraging for

PETER BUCHANAN and PETER JOHNSTON have been in the field with scientists and amateur enthusiasts in search of mushrooms; toadstools and other fungi

ungi are one of the best-kept secrets of our native forests. Often neglected because most are small, they appear erratically, and there is little popular literature about them. But look a little closer, stoop a little lower, and you will uncover an amazing world of fungi of huge diversity of shape, colour, function, and associations with almost all other organisms. Fungi are amongst the most diverse groups of organisms in New Zealand’s forests. Although over 6000 species are known from New Zealand, it is estimated that another 14,000 remain to be found and described. The importance of fungi in the web of life is becoming increasingly recognised as amateurs meet with scientists in an annual field trip called the Fungal Foray, held this year in the Kaimai Ranges of the Bay of Plenty. Enthusiasts, or the ‘just curious, gather for up to a week to take part. The forays are held each year at a different site in New Zealand. They are intended for both amateur and professional ‘mycologists’ (fungal scientists) as well as tertiary students. The amateurs range from members of the public with a general interest in natural history, to photographers, gastronomes, and those with an extensive knowledge of New Zealand’s fungi. Local iwi, and teachers, students and their parents from local schools are also welcomed. Recent forays have attracted 40 to 55 participants, including several from overseas. The Fungal Foray was initiated by mycologists from Landcare Research in Auckland in 1986, with a foray at Kauaeranga Valley at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula. There has been an annual foray, of four to seven days duration each year since, held in places from Tangihua in the north to the Catlins in the south. The foray has three main aims: to better understand the diversity and distribution of New Zealand’s native fungi; to increase public understanding and appreciation of our fungi; and to provide a forum for anyone interested in fungi to meet informally. With permission from land-owners such as the Department of Conservation, specimens of fungi are collected by participants from forests (both native and exotic) and other ecosystems in the vicinity of the foray site. Collectors learn to identify their finds through assistance to use microscopes (brought from neighbouring universities or research institutes) and by using the scientific and

popular literature on New Zealand fungi. Identified material is then dried and retained for the national collection of fungi (the New Zealand Fungal Collection, PDD, Landcare Research, Auckland has 70,000 fungal specimens) and for the fungal collection at Forest Research, Rotorua. Some participants also present talks on their research and slide shows on various subjects relating to fungi. As an example of the outcome of a typical foray, the fifteenth foray at Tuai resulted in the collection of 200 species of fungi, 75 percent of which were not previously known in Te Urewera. Several fungi new to science were discovered. Altogether records of 450 species of fungi were made from Te Urewera, although probably several thousand more remain to be discovered. Each species adds to the knowledge of the forests of Te Urewera,

helping to understand their ecology. And the event has increased understanding of iwi values and the relationships between Maori and the land. For further information on the fungal forays and on New Zealand fungi in general, check out the following web sites: http://www. landcareresearch.co.nz/ research/biodiversity/fungiprog/ http://www. landcareresearch.co.nz/ research/biodiversity/fungiprog/foray/ http://nzfungi.landcareresearch.co.nz/ http://www. hiddenforest.co.nz http://www. kaimaibush.co.nz/Fungi/ FungiFrames.html http://www.botany.otago.ac.nz/foray/ Peter Buchanan and Peter Johnston, can be contacted at the New Zealand Fungal Collection, PDD, Landcare Research, Auckland. Email: buchananp@LandcareResearch.co.nz