The_Joy_of_Fungi

Our team has worked with the USDA to obtain the required permits to move and receive soil samples (PPQ 526 Permit to Move Live Plant Pests, Biological Control Agents, Bees, Parasitic Plants, Federal Noxious Weeds, or Soil). The collection kit is compliant with the permit/USDA regulations. We also provide quarterly reports to every state and federal USDA offices letting each agency know which fungi and potential pathogens are being identified in their jurisdictions. The information sent to the offices contains just the fungus identification and the zip code from which it originated. No participant names, addresses, or personal identifying information are included in the reports.

America is quite the melting-pot of humanity.

Thank you Ben and Amory. It was fun sharing the Program's story with you.

No worries...once we have the fungus growing in the laboratory, we can grow more of it. We never need to return to a person's lawn. We grow the fungi in our lab on Cheerios breakfast cereal (fungi love it). We also put samples into freezer storage (-80 C), which preserves them for future use. If we ever need to make more of a fungus, we just get the sample from the freezer and grow more in the lab.

Great questions.

Question 1: We prefer to not receive samples from parks. We really need to have land owner's consent to share the sample with us. Additionally, many parks and municipalities have their own rules and restrictions about what can be done within parks such as not removing anything (plants, rocks, soil, etc.) from the premises. We want to make sure no one if getting themselves in trouble and that samples are collected legally. With that said, we have many people who live in apartments and cities who do participate successfully by receiving permission from their landlords. We only need a few ounces of soil and most people do not mind once they know this. Even a narrow crevice along a building's edge can provide new fungi. We would like to get more urban samples if people can help.

Question 2: Surprisingly, there are few studies out looking at temporal variation in fungal communities over time. Our own experience tells us that fungi can vary greatly in a single place overtime. Perhaps there are changes in seasonal abundance (e.g., leaves drop in fall, providing lots of fresh nutrients for cellulose degraders to eat). We do encourage people to resample their property.

Question 3: It is estimated that there might be 1.5-5 million species of fungi on Earth. With only about 10% of those species described, there is lots of opportunity for new organism to be found. Finding new fungi is very common, but still very exciting and fun. It is hard to believe that their is so much life living under our feet and in our yards that is not yet known to exist.