Mushroom Lovers; Ease off on the Commons!

Dear mushroom lovers!

As the winter breath chills the air and days get shorter, we all get excited about the mushroom season, when it's possible to go out to hunt for those delicious fungi growing in the wild! There's nothing like filling your basket with chanterelles, porcini, and morels or shiitake, bringing them home to cook a mouthwatering nutritious meal.

But before grabbing your knife and basket and heading to the woods, I'd like to ask you a favour. Please, be mindful of how much you collect and where you forage. Excessive foraging - also known as hoarding wild mushrooms, can have detrimental impacts on the environment and the wildlife that depend on mushrooms for their survival. Needless to say, it has a negative impact on your future resources as well.

Here are some reasons why you should ease off on foraging edible mushrooms, avoiding:

- decreasing spore dissemination: Many foragers assume that if mushrooms cannot be uprooted (because they have no roots - which is true) then picking them from the wild doesn't affect their population. When you remove a mushroom from the wild, however, you prevent it from releasing its spores. Spores are the reproductive units of fungi. Spores are carried by the wind or by animals to new locations, where they can germinate and form new mycelium and mushrooms. By picking too many mushrooms, you decrease the chances of spore dissemination and colonization of new habitats [1]. When wild animals eat mushrooms, they return the spores back to the soil, when humans eat mushrooms, the spores end up in the sewage; 

- critically reducing food for wild species: Mushrooms are an important source of food for many animals, especially in winter when alternative resources get scarce. Squirrels hide them during the season for winter time when other food sources are scarce; deer, rabbits, birds,  mice, insects, and many others rely on mushrooms for their nutrition and energy. By overharvesting mushrooms, you may deprive these animals of their food and affect their chances for survival and reproduction;

- treading the soil: When you walk around the forest looking for mushrooms, you may unintentionally damage the soil and the mycelium that lies beneath it. Mycelium is the network of fungal threads that connects the mushrooms and helps them absorb nutrients and water from the soil to feed themselves and their plant symbionts (trees, bushes, wildflowers, wild plants, etc). By treading the soil, the mycelium might break or get compacted, reducing its ability to function and produce more mushrooms in the future. So, tread carefully!

- Finally, consider your fellow forayers (mushroom study/appreciation groups): Observation of wildlife, including mushrooms, is important for our mindfulness and well-being. You are clever enough to diversify your diet but other species are restricted in terms of the quality and quantity of food they can get, and once a species loses its battle for survival, it's lost forever. Leave a portion for nature dwellers to enjoy and appreciate such precious beings too. The beauty of natural ecosystems is a gift not to brush away lightly.

So, what can we do to be responsible foragers:

Here are some quick tips (with a note to self):

- Forage only for personal use and take just as much as you can consume in a reasonable time.

- Avoid nature-conservation sites where foraging may be prohibited or restricted. It's probably been restricted for good reasons.

- Forage only with knowledge and identification skills. Don't pick mushrooms that you're not sure about or that may be endangered (let alone poisonous). Use reliable guides or experts to help you.

- Tread with care and respect. Don't damage or disturb the soil, the mycelium, or the plants around the mushrooms. 

- Use a basket or mesh carrier bag to collect your mushrooms, allowing some spores to escape and spread as you walk. Leave a reasonable portion of the mushrooms behind for other foragers, forayers, animals, and future generations.

By following these tips, you can enjoy foraging mushrooms in their season without damaging their populations or harming the environment or wildlife. You can also help preserve the diversity and abundance of fungi in our forests and contribute to their conservation.

Happy mushroom hunting!

Some references:

1.Laetiporus sulphureus. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

D. W. Minter, G.S Soliman ( 2022), Description of Fungi and Bacteria, No. 231 pp. 2297

3.Inonotus obliquus. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

D. W. Minter, G.S Soliman ( 2022), Description of Fungi and Bacteria, No. 231 pp. 2296

Medicinal & Nutraceutical Fungi

10 description sheets of medicinal & nutraceutical fungi. 

Authors: David W. Minter (CABI) & Gihan Soliman (Permaculture Association Britain)

Publisher: CABI

Quinoa-associated fungi and bacteria in Bolivia: conservation and sustainable use

Quinoa-associated fungi and bacteria in Bolivia: conservation and sustainable use

Quinoa seeds are rich in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, amino acids, and dietary minerals in amounts greater than in many grains.

The spread of production of quinoa may involve farming into ecologically fragile ecosystems, threatening both the sustainability of producer agriculture and the biodiversity of quinoa. Working with several partners on this project aiming at healthier ecosystems, sustainable cultivation, and resilient communities. 

Stay tuned!

UK Fungus Day Edinburgh

In celebration of the magnificent biodiversity on our beautiful planet, come and join us on the UK Fungus Day 2018 at Leith Links, Edinburgh.


The UK Fungus Day 2018 will be held in Leith Community Croft in Edinburgh - on Saturday and Sunday the 6th and 7th of October, to celebrate and highlight the importance of fungi for our communities and ecosystems. The event is held by volunteers from the Permaculture Association Britain, Scotland Group. UKFD is sponsored by the British Mycological Society and hosted by the Leith Crops in Pots Community.

Talks on Saturday:

• What are Fungi; Plants, Animals or Something Else? 

Cameron Diekonign: Foray Group Leader at the Fungus Group of South East Scotland

• The Ecological and Socioeconomic Services of Fungi: The Value of Fungal Conservation. 

Read the event report all across the UK by the British Mycological Society.  
Gihan Soliman, BA, PGCE, MSc






Suitable for families.


We are waiting for you!

'Citizen Science' and the Future of Conservation - A Case study

Being an environmental activist for years has taught me that democracy, advancement of science, and sustainable economic growth are concurrent and inseparable. The freedom of engaging in and getting others engaged in scientific/environmental data collection and the freedom of disclosing such data are directly connected to governance issues such the freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of data collection, and transparency. In many states around the world - and especially in the Middle East, dissemination of data or publishing a scientific research without state-permission has become problematic and in some instances, criminalised. It constitutes a 'threat to the national security'. In other areas of the world, however, citizen science has produced groundbreaking discoveries and innovations. It - above all, creates a synergetic community cooperating constructively and passionately towards a shared goal.

Conservation, in particular, cannot afford to miss on citizen science, when a group of amateurs - often mentored by few passionate experts, contribute to or co-create influential science projects. The rapid progress in digital tools has enabled a wider participation in data collection and dissemination while open access technologies have allowed self-education and eliminated many barriers imposed by the narrowness of specialization.

The 'Lost and Found Project' is one of those fascinating science projects where citizen science produces results deemed otherwise unattainable. This is due to the immensity of the mycological kingdom, the relative scarcity of specialised knowledge, the rarity of experts, the vastness of the geographical areas covered, and the inadequacy of allocated fund. Fungal conservationists have been, for decades, calling for attention to the needs of fungal conservation. Fungi are interconnected with all other forms of life on earth and are essential for their sustainability, yet they don't receive the due level of preservation and respective fund.

In this respect, The Lost and Found Project is a heartening model of successful 'citizen science' and a promising step on the way of protecting the environment by protecting its - often forgotten, mycological component. Having addressed this topic more than once [1][2] from an educational perspective, today I write to highlight a very interesting learning and volunteering experience in this project.

The Lost and Found Project led by the young British mycologist Brian Douglas is funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and supported by both the British Mycological Society and the British Lichen Society. Being a member of one of the local fungus groups in, I - among several others, received an invitation to participate in a workshop at in Whitmuir Farm* near Edinburgh. The workshop was generously funded by the project and the opportunity of shadowing great mycologists such as Paul Canon, Brian Douglas (and others) for a few days was exceptional!

Unlike many other fields of science, mentorship is ubiquitous for learning mycology, while there is a perceived rarity of mycologists - in general. In particular, there is scarcity in mycologists who are willing to - and are capable of, educating others. The task is even harder when there are a target and deadlines for producing viable data. Here, the mission was to carry out field surveys to establish whether certain fungal species still exist or gone extinct - given that they were previously observed then seem to have disappeared since last recorded. If any of those species are found, one target is to investigate whether they are truly rare or just under-reported. This is possible by accepting multiple different entries from the same geographical vicinity.

I loved the experience!

We had to bring our microscopes, other tools, and chemicals, but the space, location, and the facilities of the Whitmuir Farmhouse were intriguing.

One of the biggest challenges of 'citizen science', though is the risk of jeopardizing the technical quality of the data produced in favour of group synergy. The project, however, is well maintained by its leader in this regard. Although it's carried out by amateur volunteer mycologists, it's not exactly for beginners. If you are a mycophile, whether an amateur or an expert, you need to first obtain a list of the rare fungi and familiarise yourself with its content, then find a recommended spot and start looking for a species or two (from the list).

Identification of fungi:

Some species are easy to identify by observation of morphological features. Examples are common mushrooms and toadstools. Those are given common names pertaining to their shape, odour, texture, and/or colour in addition to their Latin names. Examples are Pink waxcap (Hygrocybe calyptriformis); Beefsteak fungus (Fistulina hepatica); Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), etc.

 For species of rust fungi, the identification of the host is a pre-requisite. This is because each species infect a strictly narrow array of hosts and is not transmittable to a non-host plant. A single species, however, is capable of infecting two different hosts in its different life-cycle phases. Rust fungi are mostly observed as powdery spores of rusty or brown colour on the surface of the host plant. Some species of fungi require advanced technology to identify.  Some fungi are edible and some others are inedible (not necessarily poisonous).

Data entry If you ever spot any of the species listed, you also need to learn how to enter the data on the project's website without causing a system conflict. Alternatively, you can just send the information to Brian Douglas either via e-mail or the project's social media pages - Facebook or Twitter. You will normally be required to provide a photo of the species found, a description of its habitat or associated organism and the national grid number where it was spotted. In Whitmuir Farm - given the time limitation, we were given a good training on how to identify some rare rust fungi by identifying the associated organism and/or via microscopy. There would be still much to learn for a beginner though.

It's worthy to note that signing up to the project's website, has to be approved by the admin and does not guarantee access to the dashboard. A discussion has arisen whether 'not finding' a species or the multiple finding of single species within the same geographical vicinity, would be worthy of recording. The answer to that was yes; it's even advisable as it indicates the rarity or, otherwise, the abundance of such a species. One of the project's success stories is that of the Cryptomyces maximus species, which was deemed globally rare but  has been found this year on several sites (Pembrokeshire and Shropshire, as well as an Ireland).

The list of species can be found on the project's website together with the updated progress statistics and the 'species of the month' proclamation. This year (2018) is the last year in the project and more efforts are needed for a satisfactory yield.

Citizen science projects require an ecosystem of freedom and democracy but once established they also influence the ecosystem by providing community engagement opportunities connecting citizens to their environment and to each other. It's a closed circle of progress, self-organization, and emancipation. The link between good science and good governance might not be so obvious to many, but the current and prospective success of citizen science indicate clearly that the future of conservations is tied up to the future of democracy and peace in the world. On the technical level, the success of this project can be a turning point for the future of conservation and sustainability - given the challenges facing fungal conservation today.

* If you are interested in the Lost and Found Project please contact Brian at b.douglas@kew.org directly - for more detail, guidance, or assistance.

* If you are interested in the Whitmuir Farm House, please contact Teyl at Whitmuir@aol.com 

Open Innovation in Life Science - Closing the Loop

 Peer-reviewed

 

The first decade of the 21th century has been noted to witness a decline in the pharmaceutical innovation (Kaitin and DiMasi, 2011), with some recent signs of revival (Ward, 2014). According to the Centre for Medicines Research International in the USA, the average success rate of bringing a new drug to the market has declined, since the mid-nineties. Failure occurs predominantly in the later phases of clinical testing, which makes them even more expensive. The business witnessed only 24 new-drug approvals by the United States Food and Drug Administration during 1998 with a $27 billion Research and Development (R&D) cost. However, the industry in 2006 spent $64 billion, for only 13 new drugs, making it to the market (Kaitin and DiMasi, 2011). Some have proposed that the traditional linear model of bioinnovation, is no longer viable, concluding the need for a "fully integrated pharmaceutical networks," (FIPNets/FIPCO) or simply an "ecosystem". In this essay I explore reasons and practicalities of turning to Open Innovation. I also argue a potential enhancement in the quality of input into the earlier phases of drug production, with fungal conservation and bioprospecting as a case in point.

Download the paper

 

 

 

 

Cybernetics and Fungal Conservation

Published in the Third International Congress for Fungal Conservation, 

Turkey from 11-15 November 2013

                      (Book of abstracts, Page 48) 

Cybernetics and fungal conservation:
an interdisciplinary approach to management of fungal conservation
using desert truffles as an example [64]

Soliman, G.S.

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''Human evolution cannot be understood as a purely biological process, nor can it be adequately described as a history of culture. It is the interaction of biology and culture. There exists a feedback between biological and cultural processes.''( Wilson, E.O) As fungal conservation is 'a mixture of science and politics'; orchestrating a positive attitude to it involves a sort of partnership between the biological and social sciences. Managing this complex process involves cybernetics.

Cybernetics deals with communication in complex systems. It has been described as “the art of steersmanship” or “the art of creating equilibrium in a world of constraints and possibilities” and is applicable when a system is in a closed signalling loop; that is, where action by the system generates some change in its environment and that change is reflected in some manner that triggers a system change. In fungal conservation, a cybernetically controlled environment entails creating an input which triggers a positive attitude towards fungal conservation and generates a feedback which develops fungal conservation itself in a ‘closed signalling loop’.
Conservation of desert truffles is a case in point. In southwest Asia and northern Africa there are cultural traditions which go back to ancient times. In many parts of these regions, fruit bodies of these fungi are still described as “manna”, a word meaning “the gift of God” which has been used in this sense for thousands of years, back to what was arguably the first recorded act of fungal conservation (Exodus 16: 32). Desert truffles are mentioned in the religious texts of Christianity, Islam and Judaism alike, and are universally favourably regarded in these writings, as food and for their medicinal value. In addition to the religious traditions, these fungi are widely used in the region as aphrodisiacs.
Such cultural value might be expected to generate a tradition to conserve these fungi, but because they are regarded as ‘miraculous’, there is a deeply subliminal view that they are protected by God: “it's a free gift; no work is required to enjoy it and no protection either”. This simultaneously encourages over-exploitation and a laissez-faire attitude to their conservation, exacerbated by land-ownership issues and a feeling that information about the location of desert truffles, as such a precious gift from God, should be concealed: gatherers in Egypt have been described as 'downright secretive'. These deeply-rooted traditions hinder research on the fungi. Moreover, scientific knowledge may get distorted when communicated to the public by non-specialists: examples of this can be found among YouTube videos of clerics preaching on this subject. A lot of co-ordination, correlation, communication, and organization are thus required to enable the prominent cultural value of desert truffles to be used for conservation.

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