2023-08-20 20:04:12
A great mushroom race is taking place in the three maritime provinces. The Mycoblitz — in which all citizens, scientists or not, can participate — aims to discover more about the mushrooms of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
The Mycoblitz is a project across the North American continent. It’s a more targeted version of what’s called a bioblitz.
A bioblitz is an exercise where participants explore nature to count and identify all the living species they are able to find in a specific area. The activity is done over a short period, usually 24 to 48 hours.
This summer and fall, the bioblitz taking place in the Maritimes focuses on mycology, the science of fungi.
The final frontier
According to Allison Walker, a biology professor at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, there could be as many as 7,000 species of fungi in Canada, including 3,000 in the Maritimes.
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A fusiform clavaire
Photo: Courtesy of Sean Haughian
She is part of a team of researchers who want to sequence the DNA of a thousand species of fungi in the Maritimes.
Allison Walker calls Fungi the ultimate frontier of biology.
Less is known about them, in general, she says.
There is great cryptic diversity among the Fungi. Things that you can’t identify with the naked eye or under a microscope, explains Sean Haughian, curator of botany at the Nova Scotia Museum, which is an entity comprising 28 museums in the province.
DNA sequencing of some of these specimens is therefore needed to better understand the extent of cryptic diversity that exists, he says. Some Fungi may indeed look like they belong to one and the same species, but have distinct DNA.
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This mushroom is of the genus Tapinella.
Photo: Courtesy of Allison Walker
There can be several species of fungi in the same region without realizing it, because they are genetically different, says biologist Allison Walker. They may have different toxins, properties and roles for their environment. Their DNA helps us confirm who they really are.
Discovering a new fungus is always exciting, she says, and she believes the Mycoblitz event could lead to the identification of new species in the Maritimes.
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These very small mushrooms (left) are examples of laccaria.
Photo: Courtesy of Allison Walker
Everyone is invited to participate in the Mycoblitz. Rory Chongva, who studies biology at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, says this kind of activity makes science more accessible to everyone.
Scientists as well as ordinary people are involved in what is, fundamentally, a scientific project, he said. It’s very exciting.
People interested in getting involved in the next Mycoblitz, which is to take place in October, are invited to communicate their interest to the Mycological Society of Nova Scotia or the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History.
The initiative is done in partnership with the New Brunswick Museum, the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, and the non-profit organization Nature PEI, formerly known as the Natural History Society of Prince Edward Island.
According to report by Rianna Lim, CBC
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