Rethinking the fungal dimension of biodiversity (original) (raw)

The Third 'F' - Fungi in Australian Biodiversity Conservation: Actions, Issue and Initiatives

Mycologia Balcanica, 2010

Abstract: Australia’s biota, including fungi, is highly diverse and highly endemic with many species also highly at risk of extinction. Despite ratifying international conventions and the development of national biodiversity conservation strategies, little has changed in the conservation status of Australian fungi over the last decade. Fungi remain largely neglected in most conservation legislation, notwithstanding their importance to ecosystem functioning and consequently to humanity, and there are very few mycologists employed in reference collections or conservation agencies. Few fungi have been included on formal threat status lists and a coordinated national approach toward compiling a threat status list for fungi is urgently required. Given the anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity including climate change, increases in wildfi re and subsequent habitat destruction, there is a pressing need for recognition and incorporation of fungi in management and conservation initiatives. Community groups are making an increasingly signifi cant contribution to fungal conservation, especially through mapping and monitoring, but their eff orts need greater support from government. Th ere remains a need for a coherent national strategy for the conservation of Australian fungi.

Myco-entanglement – Public perceptions of Fungi in Biodiversity Conservation

Since the early 1980’s there have been appreciable advancements in fungal knowledge and conservation in many European countries as well as in Australia. The listing of species for protection, public participation in fungal interest groups, production of field guides and other efforts have all raised awareness of the vital importance of fungi. Yet despite these achievements, many people and governments still largely fail to acknowledge the significance of fungi in ecosystem function and their direct implications for human well-being. Thirty years on since the ‘fungal enlightenment’ do we need to reassess our approach to raising the profile and conservation of fungi? Are fungi being adequately conserved under surrogate approaches? Should we more actively engage the approaches and perspectives of other disciplines to inspire greater public interest and participation in fungal conservation efforts? This paper will report on initial findings of a PhD project examining the discord between the diversity and ecological significance of fungi, and the amount of attention they receive in biodiversity conservation. A recent assessment of an historical archive of over 400 newspaper representations of fungi aims to unravel clues about how fungi have been perceived historically. Survey and interview techniques were also used to assess the perception of fungi by the general public and by those working in biodiversity management and policy. An examination of 40 Australian National Park management plans and various state and national level biodiversity strategies found fungi to be either excluded or grossly under-represented. Initial findings will be discussed and alternative approaches to catalyse fungal conservation that consider both Australian and European perspectives proposed. The immense efforts of mycologists advocating for fungal conservation have revealed the complexities of the kingdom. But can all the knowledge we need to progress fungal conservation, come from mycologists alone? Certainly, we need more expertise, more taxonomic and distribution data, as well as threat status information. But how we meld this knowledge with the great spectrum of other ways in which fungi are translated, understood and valued? For example, how do we incorporate the affective dimension of fungal conservation? Many writers and thinkers have discussed the fundamental human need to interact with nature in an other than cognitive way - to re-enchant our relationship with nature. Perhaps fungal conservation could give greater focus toward re-chanting our relationship with fungi. Fungal conservation requires mycological expertise but also public support. It requires a solid understanding of the many ways in which fungi are valued. We may also need to question how fungal conservation can adopt a more critical and inclusive approach to its role in society. This may include understanding how to embed social and ethical values into fungal conservation. Finally, this paper will make a brief comparative analysis of other overlooked groups of organisms such as invertebrates and whether fungal conservation can borrow from their conservation successes.

Mind the Gap - Exploring the Space Between Fungal Interest and Conservation

"Public interest in fungi has increased in the last three decades. This has catalysed the production of resources that have further stimulated public interest. But are fungi really any better protected than they were thirty years ago? Such interest and resources provide a vital framework for fungal conservation but has this translated into active and effective public engagement? This presentation explores the gap between growing interest in fungi and the step toward political action and change. Following an overview of some recent advancements in fungal conservation, I explore conservation possibilities through imaging technologies and visualism; in situ multi-sensory engagement with fungi; and recent fungal intrusions into other disciplines. I also ask how we might re-enchant our relationship with fungi and incorporate their affective dimensions. Fungal conservation requires mycological expertise but also public support. It requires an understanding of the many ways fungi are valued. We may also need to consider how fungal conservation can adopt a more critical and inclusive approach to its role in society. What are the best ways to move forward and give fungi a stipe-up to their deserved place in biodiversity conservation? Mind the gap. Take a large step. Get on board the train. It's stopping all stations to fungal conservation. "

Fungal conservation in the 21st century: optimism and pessimism for the future

Fungal Conservation, 2001

This book has examined a variety of problems associated with fungal conservation. We have tried to go beyond mere debate by including constructive guidance for management of nature in ways favourable to fungi. The geographical range of the examples presented is from Finland in the North to Kenya in the South, and from washington State, USA, in the West to Fujian Province, China, in the East. Our authors suggest solutions that are equally wide ranging: from voluntary agreements, through 'fungus-favourable' land management techniques and on to primary legislation. Taken together, the book offers practical advice on how to include fungi in conservation projects in a range of circumstances. The book has its origin in a British Mycological Society Symposium at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, UK, in November 1999, combined with a selection of papers delivered at the XIIIth Congress of European Mycologists, held in Alcala de Henares, Spain, in September 1999. There were lively discussions at both meetings but verbal discussion is difficult to represent in writing. We felt it was imporrant, however, to attempt to convey some feeling of the discussions that occurred during the meetings, so we asked contributors to respond, briefly, to the question 'Are you optimistic or pessimistic about fungal conservation in the 21st century?' Our contributors replied from their different standpoints and their replies are given here without editorial interference from us. The replies are atranged in the same order as the authors' chapters in this book and the opinions expressed are those of the individual authors.

A Fungal Perspective on Conservation Biology

Conservation Biology, 2014

Hitherto fungi have rarely been considered in conservation biology, but this is changing as the field moves from addressing single species issues to an integrative ecosystem-based approach. The current emphasis on biodiversity as a provider of ecosystem services throws the spotlight on the vast diversity of fungi, their crucial roles in terrestrial ecosystems, and the benefits of considering fungi in concert with animals and plants. We reviewed the role of fungi in ecosystems and composed an overview of the current state of conservation of fungi. There are 5 areas in which fungi can be readily integrated into conservation: as providers of habitats and processes important for other organisms; as indicators of desired or undesired trends in ecosystem functioning; as indicators of habitats of conservation value; as providers of powerful links between human societies and the natural world because of their value as food, medicine, and biotechnological tools; and as sources of novel tools and approaches for conservation of megadiverse organism groups. We hope conservation professionals will value the potential of fungi, engage mycologists in their work, and appreciate the crucial role of fungi in nature.

Fungal under-representation is (slowly) diminishing in the life sciences

Fungal Ecology, 2013

Mycologists often lament a relative lack of attention to fungi, a species-rich yet under-recognized group of organisms. Is this situation getting any better? Over the last two decades, there has been a general increase in the proportion of papers mentioning fungi for studies indexed in Web of Science. Depending on the associated keyword, the percentage of ‘fungal’ papers varies among 0.3 % (networks) and 8 % (pathogens), and the rate of increase is between 0.06 % (disease and health) and 1.5 % (grasslands) per decade. Fungi are sometimes less often mentioned than insects (e.g. in the agriculture and climate change literature), but the representation is similar for biological, environmental, genetic, fruit, new species and network papers, and fungi are more often dealt with than insects in the soil, marine, molecular, seed, food, wood and epidemiological literature. The representation of fungi has been catching up with that of insects in papers on ecology, biodiversity, species richness, biology, biogeography, mountains, forests and grasslands, whereas insects are becoming more often mentioned than fungi in papers on landscape and freshwater systems."

Fungi - An Entangled Exploration

This special issue of PAN: Philosophy, Activism, Nature invited authors to explore a spectrum of perspectives and ways of thinking about kingdom Fungi. For many people, fungi are perplexing organisms. With their bizarre trophic modes, complex life histories and menacing mythologies, fungi arouse human responses from intrigue to repugnance. They have inspired the imaginations of scientists and aesthetes alike and are deeply enmeshed in the mythologies and traditions of many cultures. As the effects of anthropogenic change become ever more dauntingly apparent, the importance of fungi in underpinning the ear directly influencing our lives gains significance. However, despite their ubiquity and ecological importance, fungi are largely unregarded, especially within English---speaking cultures where mycophobia is the overwhelming norm. How do the perspectives of the arts and humanities broaden the ways in which we think about fungi? Conversely, how might fungi contribute to the evolution of our understandings of philosophy, literature and other disciplines? In exploring the theme of fungi with these questions in mind, the special issue combines analytical approaches with narrative forms commonly found in the humanities. As far as we are aware, this is the first special issue in an interdisciplinary, academic Australian journal to bring together these broad---ranging approaches to the fungal kingdom. 3 This variety of lenses through which to imagine or re---imagine this kingdom will hopefully improve possibilities for reaching wider audiences and for inspiring new approaches to considering and conserving fungi. One of the aims of the issue is to provide a forum for understanding how Homo sapiens might be included within the entangled lives of fungi. Indeed, human intersections with fungi have broader implications for a challenge faced by the humanities and arts today: learning to think integratively and ethically about nature and culture, particularly in terms of other species. This issue ranges in content from the cultural histories of fungus foragers to the microscopic mechanisms of spore ejection; from critical examinations of mushrooms in literature to imaginative reinterpretations of fungi in the visual arts. This variety of approaches to fungi is explored through descriptive essays, provocative theoretical papers, stories, poetry and visual representations. Each author offers an expression of

Fungi and the Action Plan for the Conservation of Biodiversity: what happens in Tuscany (Italy)?

This issue of Fungal Conservation is being put together in the glow of achievement associated with the Third International Congress on Fungal Conservation, held in Muğla, Turkey in November 2013. The meeting brought together people committed to fungal conservation from all corners of the Earth, providing information, stimulation, encouragement and general happiness that our work is starting to bear fruit. Especial thanks to our hosts at the University of Muğla who did so much behind the scenes to make the conference a success. This issue of Fungal Conservation includes an account of the meeting, and several papers based on presentations therein. A major development in the world of fungal conservation happened late last year with the launch of a new website (http://iucn.ekoo.se/en/iucn/welcome) for the Global Fungal Red Data List Initiative. This is supported by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, which also made a most generous donation to support participants from less-developed nations at our conference. The website provides a user-friendly interface to carry out IUCN-compliant conservation assessments, and should be a tool that all of us use. There is more information further on in this issue of Fungal Conservation. Deadlines are looming for the 10 th International Mycological Congress in Thailand in August 2014 (see http://imc10.com/2014/home.html). Conservation issues will be featured in several of the symposia, with one of particular relevance entitled "Conservation of fungi: essential components of the global ecosystem". There will be room for a limited number of contributed papers and posters will be very welcome also: the deadline for submitting abstracts is 31 March. A satellite meeting focusing on how to make IUCN conservation assessments will also take place on 3 August, just before the congress starts. Please put this in your diaries if you are going to Bangkok. Thank you once again to those dedicated people who have sent articles for publication in Fungal Conservation. I hope you the reader appreciate their efforts, and are encouraged to contribute to the next issue!