AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Indigo milk cap uses11/20/2023 Want to do more than wonder? You can help out any time you go out for a hike by using apps like iNaturalist to share photos and locations of the fungi and other species that you see. As a result, it can also inspire us to wonder what else is out there, still waiting to be spotted! For example, the inventory doesn’t tell us what fungi might be present at other times of the year, or in other park habitats. Having the findings available could also provide a better baseline for comparison for scientists conducting similar surveys in the future.Įven though Sarah’s fungi inventory has taught us a lot, it still only paints a partial picture of fungal diversity in the parks. There they may be able to help curious park visitors identify their own cool fungi finds. Soon, these results will be verified and added to the NPSpecies database. More exciting still, she found 53 species in New River Gorge National River, more than doubling the number of fungi species known from the park. For example, Sarah found 39 species of fungi in Gauley River National Recreation Area, where no NPSpecies records existed at all. The inventory yielded some exciting results. Many are unaware of the existence of unicorns in the forests of West Virginia, but rest assured, they are out there! The yellow unicorn mushroom, Entoloma murrayi, can be spotted during the height of the summer, and is aptly named due to the small point on the top of the cap that resembles a horn. Once in awhile she also collected specimens to create spore prints for identification. Many she could identify on the spot, but for others she took extra photos and detailed notes to identify them later. She took photos of some species to serve as a vouchers. Thus, during the summers of 20, Sarah recorded the interesting fungi she encountered during the course of her regular forest health monitoring field work. On top of that, many mushrooms provide tasty meals for wildlife. Fungi also help create habitat in standing and downed trees for many birds and mammals. Below the ground, expansive networks of fungi help stabilize and aerate soils. Some plants, like ghost plants and pink lady’s slippers, could not survive without help from their fungal partners. They provide nutrients to trees and other plants. For example, fungi help with decomposition and nutrient cycling. Scientists like to study fungi because they are vital to the healthy functioning of ecosystems. After all, there is more to fungi than their fascinating fruiting bodies (aka mushrooms). When cut, the striking indigo gills of this mushroom bleed milky latex that will slowly change from a brilliant blue to a deep green as it oxidizes.ĭiscussing her discoveries with her colleagues, everyone agreed that Sarah should turn her observations into a more formal fungi inventory. The pale blue cap of the Lactarius indigo quickly catches the eye, and further investigation proves to be even more rewarding. Surveys of fungi in the other network parks were evidently few and far between, if they existed at all. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area was the only park with a robust list. She started taking photos and jotting down what she saw.Īs Sarah’s list of mushrooms grew, she checked NPSpecies, the searchable National Park Service species database, to see if the species she was seeing had been previously documented in the parks. Their striking colors, unusual forms, or foul smells stood out, especially to a fan of fungi. Biological technician Sarah Daugherty would be out collecting data for the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network’s forest health monitoring program, and notice so many cool mushrooms. The stunning purple branches of this coral mushroom make it easy to spot and identify. The violet coral, Clavaria zollingeri, looks as though it should be at the bottom of the ocean rather than growing from the forest floor.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |