Fungi

• Foreword
• What is special?
• How they feed
• How they multiply
• Where they live
• What we know & don't
• A’foraying we will go
• Fungi and the law
• Wild Mushroom Code
• Beware
• Conservation
• Threats
• Woodland management
• Red Data List
• Biodiversity Action Plan
• Fungi in nature reserves
• Important Fungus Areas

Conservation

Conserving fungi is not as straight forward as conserving flowering plants. For much of the year the fungi are hidden from view, only becoming visible when they fruit. They may fail to appear for several years, although a fungus which does not fruit may nevertheless be present in the soil. This characteristic, and the difficulties of identifying many fungi - especially in their vegetative state, has made it difficult to build a consistent picture of how they are performing in the field.

New technology is now to hand. Molecular techniques looking at the DNA profile within the soil now make it possible to identify fungi in their vegetative state by comparing their genetic structure with that of known fruiting bodies. So at long last the key role played by fungi in the natural heritage is gradually being deciphered.

At Sourhope Experimental Farm in the Scottish Borders the genetic profiling of waxcap populations and understanding fungal fruiting patterns is under way. The aim is to estimate the diversity of larger fungi species not only as they fruit in the pasture, but also within the soil below the experimental plots following different fertiliser and agricultural chemical regimes.

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