A virtual foray in Cool Temperate Rainforest

Most Fridays I sit down with Fungimap volunteer Graham Patterson in the Fungimap office and go through the week's emails, checking the identification of fungi records that have been submitted to Fungimap.

Each week in the Fungimap email in-box there is a mix of batches of records from long-time recorders, often with many records; but some emails with one or a few records. Long-time recorders usually supply a spreadsheet with locality and other details for the fungi they have spotted. There are also new contacts from people just starting to record fungi. These deliberate records are mixed in with enquiries about fungi from around Australia in relation to edibility, toxicity, beauty, weirdness and danger. Many of the latter enquiries do not have locality information. However, as well as providing brief answers to the enquiries, if an image is supplied, and we can identify the image and it is an interesting record, we request additional locality information.

Cortinarius metallicus growing under Nothofagus cunninghamii.
 Photo: Eileen Laidlaw, used with permission, all rights reserved.

Recently, one batch from Eileen Laidlaw stood out as an interesting set of species. Eileen's records came from the vicinity of the car park at Mt St Gwinear, including along the upper reaches of South Cascades Creek (Baw Baw Plateau, Victoria). There were a number of photos attached to the email. Even before reading the record spreadsheet I could see that some of the fungi were from Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) Cool Temperate Rainforest - because I spotted the distinctive blue pileus of Cortinarius metallicus among the attached images. This species was originally placed in the genus Rozites, due to the presence of a distinct annulus (ring) on the stipe, but Rozites is now considered a synonym of Cortinarius. Closer inspection of the photo revealed a scatter of the distinctive small, crenate (scalloped-edged) leaves of Myrtle Beech, and the information in the habitat column of the record sheet confirmed the connection: 'On soil accumulated on a granite rock, surrounded by Myrtle Beech and Mountain Tea Tree'.

Cortinarius metallicus is a Fungimap target species, distinguished by the blue colour, the viscid (slimy) pileus surface and the stipe with annulus. So far, it has only been found in association with Myrtle Beech, in Tasmania and Victoria. The only species that it could be confused with is the widespread Cortinarius rotundisporus, which also has a blue, viscid pileus, but the stipe lacks an annulus.

Cortinarius perfoetens growing under Nothofagus cunninghamii.
Photo: Eileen Laidlaw, used with permission, all rights reserved.

Also in the batch was an unidentified species of Cortinarius. The photo showed the distinctive shaggy stipe and glutinous pileus of Cortinarius perfoetens. Like C. metallicus, this species was formerly placed in Rozites (as Rozites foetens) due to the presence of a distinct annulus on the stipe. The associated habitat information indicated 'Sub Alpine grove of Myrtle Beech and Tea tree, nearest tree Myrtle Beech', which is also in accord with the strong association between Cortinarius perfoetens and Myrtle Beech. Almost all records of the fungus are with this tree - with the exception of a well-documented collection by John Walter from the Wombat State Forest, under Eucalyptus and a long way from the nearest Myrtle Beech stands in the Otway Ranges and the Central Highlands of Victoria.

Arrhenia chlorocyanea.
Photo: Eileen Laidlaw, used with permission, all rights reserved.

Another of the attached photos stood out due to the small, rather dark greenish-blue pileus in combination with decurrent lamellae. This had been correctly identified by Eileen as Arrhenia chlorocyanea, a very uncommon species. Another of the unidentified fungi matched a rather large white Lactarius that is similar to the Northern Hemisphere L. piperatus, but will not be the same species, and so for the moment we are refering to it by the tag name Lactarius sp "austral piperatus". A multicoloured Russula with a red pileus and yellow lamellae and stipe matched an illustration in Gates & Ratkowsky A Field Guide to Tasmanian Fungi (p. 143) - we are denoting this species Russula sp. "red-yellow". Further fungi reported from the vicinity of Mt St Gwinear included Leotia lubrica and various other species of Russula.

For a few minutes we were transported to the gloomy depths of a rainforest in a 'virtual' foray as we flicked through the images. I thank Eileen for the chance to accompany her 'real' foray

Data from records such as these are entered in the Fungimap Records Database. Records eventually find their way to the Atlas of Living Australia, as dots on maps. You can submit records to Fungimap (info@fungimap.org.au) using the records spreadsheet.

Tom May
Fungimap / Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

Fungi infiltrate Landcare – a few Landcarers' impressions

by Alison Pouliot

            Fistulina hepatica. Image: Alison Pouliot            

Next year Landcare Australia celebrates its 30th birthday. Since the first Landcare group was founded by farmers near St Arnaud in Victoria in 1986, over 4000 Landcare groups have sprung up across the country. The concept has also caught on in over 20 other countries. During that time Landcarers have addressed various land degradation issues by fencing off waterways, eradicating weeds and feral animals, creating windbreaks for livestock protection, controlling erosion and planting hundreds of thousands of trees.

The Landcare website states 'Landcare is a grassroots movement that harnesses individuals and groups to protect, restore and sustainably manage Australia’s natural environment and its productivity...The keystones of Landcare are that it is community owned and driven, it is bi-partisan in nature, it encourages integrated management of environmental assets with productive farmland and a more sustainable approach to private land management'. Landcare is a great success story. However, despite the enormous efforts of Landcare to restore ecosystems, something is conspicuously missing from concepts of biodiversity. Fungi. A foray back through the history of Landcare reveals that fungi have been almost totally overlooked in efforts to understand ecosystem function and in the restoration of landscapes. That is, until now. It seems that things are gradually changing and fungi are slowly creeping into the Landcare paradigm.

This autumn, over 200 Landcarers participated in a series of fungal ecology workshops and forays across Victoria and NSW. Participants were keen to understand the role of fungi in maintaining soils and their relationships with plants. In particular, they were interested in understanding the ways in which they could actively incorporate fungi into their land restoration projects. Landcare members were especially interested in the Aboriginal use of the beefsteak fungus (see Fistulina hepatica above).

           Cordyceps robertsii. Image: Alison Pouliot         
     

At a workshop held in Stanley in northern Victoria, Regional Landcare Facilitator from the North East Catchment Management Authority, Kelly Behrens explained 'We want to expand people’s knowledge of the ecological importance of fungi, so they are better equipped to manage their properties in a more sustainable way that considers the complexity of ecosystems'. Workshop participants included farmers, horticulturalists, arborists, Landcarers and others who came from far and wide to learn about the significance of fungi in forest, woodland and agricultural ecosystems. Despite the dry start to autumn, various fungi were found on the field trip through Blue Gum Gully and Stanley Recreation Reserve. The old eucalypts around the oval sported various bracket fungi including the curry punk, Piptoporus australiensis and the beefsteak fungus Fistulina hepatica. The vermillion coloured scarlet bracket Pycnoporus coccineus was found on fallen wood. Several large Phlebopus marginatus and Phylloporus clelandii were also found among the eucalypts. Richard Ahearn from Albury Environmental Crown Lands commented, 'The workshop provided valuable understanding of the role of fungi in the natural environment. In my role as a Natural Resource Manager responsible for both the restoration and maintenance of habitat for threatened species in the Albury area, I will now look for opportunities to enhance habitat for fungi around valuable old trees as well for new plantings of trees and shrubs. The workshop opened my mind to a whole new field in environmental management.'

Following a well-attended fungus field day at Lankey's Creek last autumn, Kylie Durant from Holbrook Landcare organised two further fungal ecology workshops this autumn at Tumbarumba and Mullengandra, NSW. Participants viewed and handled various fungus specimens and learnt the basics of identifying fungi in the field. Participants were especially interested in various Cordyceps species including Cordyceps gunnii, C. robertsii and C. hawkesii.

Despite the dry conditions at Mullengandra, Landcare members
keenly spotted various wood-decay fungi. Image: Kylie Durant.

At the Mullengandra workshop, Stephanie Jakovic recalled collecting fungi in her homeland of Slovenia commenting that 'Collecting fungi is one way of getting back to nature. It includes walking through the forest and being in touch with nature.' This sentiment was shared by many and despite finding only a few fungi, all enjoyed the wander through the woodland thinking about and discussing the importance of fungi to ecosystem function. Sam Niedra from the Nature Conservation Trust of NSW said 'The workshop made me better appreciate the diversity of fungi and their ecological function, and made me realise how little attention I’d been paying to them.'  Despite the dry conditions at Mullengandra, Landcare members keenly spotted various wood-decay fungi including Pycnoporus coccineus, Trametes versicolor, Piptoporus australiensis and Schizophyllum commune.

Identifying Suillus granulatus in the Wagga Wagga Botanical  Gardens.
Image: Kimberley Beattie

Further north, landcarers at a workshop in Crowther organised by Young district Landcare and Mid Lachlan Landcare were keen to understand fungi in the context of their squirrel glider conservation project. Penny Gibson from Young district Landcare commented, 'It was the great variety of fungi that we have seen here over the last nearly three decades that prompted me to enrol in the Fungi Workshop. What I learned both shocked and thrilled me. What I heard about the beneficial role that fungi play in the overall health and vitality of the natural world may only be a tip of the iceberg'.

Favolaschia calocera - Orange Ping-pong Bats
This exotic species was recorded for the first time in the
 Otways on the recent Southern Otways Landcare foray.
Image: Alison Pouliot

The dryness didn't deter forayers attending a workshop run by Murrumbidgee Landcare at Bowning, NSW. Landcarer, Kathryn McGuirk said 'I often see white fungi branches when I hand dig a hole when planting a new tree - when I see this in the future I know that I am putting my new tree in a good growing environment'. Leslie Instone commented, 'I was particularly fascinated by the way fungus makes complex relations with trees, algae as well as humans and other animals, and the many beautiful and interesting forms it takes. The emphasis on the importance of fungi for biodiversity made me think about the hidden worlds just below the surface, and the importance of small things.'

Murrumbidgee Landcarers who participated in a foray in the Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens were excited to discover several specimens of Aseroe rubra growing among the woodchips. The Gardens presented a variety of native and exotic fungi including the introduced species Suillus granulatus and Leccinum scabrum. Sue Chittick-Dalton from the Murrumbidgee Field Naturalists said 'The workshop opened up a brand new world in my life. Being a bird watcher, my eyes have always been ‘upwards’, but the amazing new world will necessitate a change of head-axis. I had no idea of the network beneath our feet and the symbiotic nature of the plant...'.

For the seventh consecutive year Southern Otways Landcare ran a foray and survey, organised by coordinator Libby Riches. Despite having to wrangle two weddings, which descended on our field site at Paradise (but whose guests quickly got shy of the torrential rain) over 40 species were recorded including a first record for the introduced species, Favolaschia calocera. Other Fungimap target species recorded included: Cortinarius persplendidus, Cortinarius austrovenetus, Ascorcoryne sarcoides, Plectania campylospora, Cordyceps gunnii, C. hawkesii, Pseudohydnum gelatinosum, Tremella mesenterica group, T. fuciformis, Macrotyphula juncea, Stereum ostrea, Mycoacia subceracea, Hericium coralloides, Podoserpula pusio, Omphalotus nidiformis, Mycena interrupta, M. nargan and Marasmius elegans.

Cortinarius austrovenetus. Image: Alison Pouliot

Cortinarius persplendidus. Image: Alison Pouliot

Heading into the Field in Holbrook

Report on Holbrook Fungus and Grass Identification Workshop

by Alison Pouliot

An enthusiastic crowd turned up for the fungus & grass workshop.
Photo: Elise Wenden

Over thirty people recently participated in a workshop held at the Lankey's Creek Hall to learn about two lesser known areas of biodiversity - fungi and grasses. 

Organised by Elise Wenden, facilitator of the Holbrook Landcare Network and Women in Agriculture the workshop and field foray was one of several activities held throughout the year to engage locals in fieldwork, technical training and conservation activities. Participants from various local Landcare groups attended with some travelling from as far as Young, NSW.

The fungal ecology lecture and field foray were run by Alison Pouliot while Kylie Durant engaged participants in a field walk to identify grasses and gain perspectives on ecology and landscape health.

Volvariella speciosa Photo: Elise Wenden

Even within 15 or so metres of the hall, participants recorded over a dozen fungus species including Gymnopilus junonius, Piptoporus australiensis, Boletus emodensis, Phlebopus marginatus, Hypholoma fasciculare, Macrolepiota clelandii, M. dolichaula, Oudmansiella gigaspora, Amanita xanthocephala, Chlorophyllum molybdites, Lactarius eucalypti, L. wirrabara, Volvariella speciosa, Polyporus arcularius and Geastrum triplex. In the adjoining native grasslands several species of Hygrocybe were recorded along with various dung-loving Coprinus and Panaeolus species.

Holbrook and various other Landcare groups are hoping to develop fungus survey skills further next autumn.

Identifying fungi in the field. Photo: Elise Wenden

 
Here is an article published in the Southern Weekly about the workshop.