Fungi Field Trip [by Emma]

On April 18, 2016, we all set out to Pine Ridge Park for our Fungi Field Trip, with our Fungi expert Korena as our guide. 

Facts of Fungi:

When we set out into the forest, we first came across an infected tree that had a pathogenic fungi in it. Pathogenic fungi can infect trees, and the tree will push out the fungi with sap, forming a black hole in its trunk (i.e, its spore mass). An example of a sick tree is Figure 1. Sick trees also loose lower branches due to their being sick. This same tree also has a vast amount of lichen on it, as also seen in the figure. 

Figure 1: A Forest Tree That Is Sick with Pathogenic Fungus

We came across a lot of lichen on our trip, mostly lichen that was growing on trees. Another fact I learned is that lichen is made of fungi and an algae or cyanobacteria. We found lots of lichen on trees, and I learned also that if a tree is covered with lichen, it must be a very old tree, because lichen grows only about a centimeter a year (see Figure 2). Many different kinds of lichen can live on the same tree, as we saw on one of the trees where three different lichen resided together.

We also saw many mosses growing on trees, and I learned that mosses are epiphytes (see Figure 3).

Figure 2: A Tree That is Covered in Lichen

Figure 3: Moss

Throughout our trip we saw many fallen logs, many of which had a white powder on them, which was a decomposer fungi. They also had conchs, which are non-fleshy mushrooms, and are decomposers and pathogens. I thought that the conchs were really interesting, because they were very hard on the outside, and didn't have gills, but pores in which the spores are kept.

Figure 4: A Tree Being Decomposed by Fungi

Figure 5: Another Tree Being Decomposed by Fungi

Figure 6: A Large Decomposing Conch

Something that was really interesting to see in the forest, was that when trees don’t get enough light, they stop growing where there is not enough light, and they start growing towards the sun, causing them to lean. Korena explained this as we came across a few leaning trees (figure 7).

Figure 7: A Tree Growing Towards the Light

Of course, a fungi field trip isn’t complete without mushrooms. In this part of the trip, Korena took us to a lovely mushroom she had hidden for us. The mushroom was an amanita mushroom (phylum Basidiomycota), and it had very delicate gills beneath its cap as seen in figure 8. When we found more mushrooms of the same sort farther away, we then learned that mycelium can grow underneath the entire forest, and those mushrooms scattered across the forest could have formed from the same mycelium. Korena mentioned the giant mycelium found in Oregon, and that she actually suspected that there might be bigger mycelium networks out there than the one in Oregon! 

Korena explained some things about the mushrooms as we inspected them. She said that about 90% of plants have a relationship with mycorrhizal fungi, and that the fungi’s mycelium can connect with the trees. The ectomycorrhizal fungi can create a flowering fruit.

Korena also talked about identification of different mushrooms, and how important it is for knowing whether or not it is poisonous. I thought that this was very interesting, and how horrible it would be if someone wrongly identified a mushroom and it was poisonous. 

And concerning poisonous mushrooms, when they are consumed their unpleasant affects (i.e, death) won’t be present for a couple of weeks after being consumed….

Figure 8: An Amanita Mushroom

What I mostly enjoyed on this trip was to see “fungi in action” instead of looking at slides in the lab. It was very fun to see how fungi lived in a forest, and how they affected it. I wonder how a forest could live without fungi? Altogether, I really enjoyed this field trip, and it would be fun to do more in the future!