Sporeprint, Summer 2006
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LONG ISLAND MYCOLOGICAL CLUB http://limyco.org VOLUME 14, NUMBER 2, SUMMER, 2006 Nebbish Fungi How an Aggressive Weedy Invader by Bob Sommer (From Mycena News, May, 2005, by permis- Displaces Native Trees sion) by Liza Gross April 25, 2006. PLoS Biol 4(5): e173 n the coastal foothills where (Copyright: © 2006 Public Library of Science. This is an I forage, mushrooms appear open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Iby size at the start of the Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, dis- season. First come the tiny fungi; you tribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original need a child low to the ground to find author and source are credited.) them. After more rain, you’ll see clus- ters of these nobodies whose technical umans have never been known to tread lightly on the names conclude in diminutives like – Hearth, but as our global reach has expanded so have ina, –tina, and –turner. Field guides our impacts on other species. Vanishing habitat caused by human give them cursory treatment or none at activity is the number one threat to biodiversity, but the dispersal all. Easily overlooked, frequently of alien invasive species—again, caused by humans—is not far be- stepped on, rarely identified with pre- hind. Over 4,500 non-native plant and animal species have estab- cision. Mycologists do not bother lished residence in the United States since European settlement, changing the technical according to a 1993 report by the US Office of Technology and As- names every few years, a sure sign of sessment. Many alien species cause little disturbance, while others professional disdain. No one estab- radically transfigure their new habitat by displacing less competi- lishes a reputation discovering a new tive native species and disrupting fragile ecological relationships variety of mycena; no disrespect to this that evolved over millions of years. publication intended. Despite its mod- Of a growing list of invasive plants in North America, garlic est name, Mycena News devotes most mustard (Alliaria petiolata) has been on the Nature Conservancy's of its column space to large charis- Red Alert list since 2000. Originally found in Europe, it was planted matic fungi. When I was introduced to in the late 1860s by European settlers for its medicinal and culinary the main marasmiologist on the Baltic properties. The weed has since spread from New York to Canada Coast, I had to bend down to shake and 30 US states in the East and Midwest, with recent sightings as hands with him. He wore thick glasses, far west as Oregon. Many mechanisms have been proposed to ex- as his eyesight had deteriorated in the plain the success of alien plant invasions, mostly related to the ab- taxing search for tiny fungi. He estab- sence of natural predators or parasites or the disruption of long- lished a small following when he dis- established interactions among native organisms. Few studies, how- covered the Dust Speck Fungus. ever, have directly tested these possibilities. In a new study, Kris- During the prime mushroom tina A. Stinson, John N. Klironomos, and colleagues do just that by months, nobody pays attention to nebs, investigating garlic mustard's effects on native hardwood North which is perhaps the origin of the ge- American trees. The weed gains a competitive advantage, they dis- nus name. Others attribute the name covered, by releasing chemicals that harm a fungus the trees de- to Johnny Neb, a confederate soldier of pend on for growth and survival. small stature although fierce in battle. Many forest trees and other vascular plants form mutually Others trace the genus to the Egyptian beneficial relationships with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). pharaoh who refused to eat any mush- The fungus has long filaments that penetrate the roots of plants (Continued on page 4) (Continued on page 3) 2 LI SPOREPRINT PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Despite all the rain in Spring, our forays for away with June forays altogether if it doesn’t im- morels resulted in only middling numbers of Black prove. Morels. A few people found Yellow Morels on Long Carol Kazdan submitted an article from the Island, always just one or two. Bethpage was great New York Times about invasive garlic mustards for Oyster mushrooms. (Many thanks to Ken Go- which prompted Joel into looking for the original bright for creating an extendable pole to reach very article (see page 1). Many of you know my feelings high mushrooms and to Tony Mish for manning about these invasive plants. I don’t remember see- that pole.) Our BioBlitz foray to Caleb Smith was ing them until a few years ago and now they are not well attended which is a shame. With more everywhere. They may be good to eat but the eco- “eyes” I’m sure we could have found a lot more spe- logical price is too high to pay. cies than we did. Please be aware that Planting Fields It seems rather strange that more mush- has changed its policy, and now charges rooms have not turned up, but it seems that many LIMC members admission at our forays there. will not fruit until a preordained time, no matter The Empire Passport is accepted, and can be how much it rains. We’ll have to wait for the next obtained at a discount through the AAA web- forays to see what shows up. We may have to do site, if you belong to that group. EDITOR’S NOTE Responding to several requests for seasonal lists invariably produces a few early summer/late spring similar to the original Spring ‘Shrooms that we pub- caps in the pine barrens. Early flowering of many lished in Spring, 2004 (available online) we have botanical species due to the warming climate has updated our previous June list in this issue. This been demonstrated both in Great Britain and the list includes both commonly occurring mushrooms US. Perhaps meticulous examination of personal or and others which are rarer this early in the season, organizational records would demonstrate a similar but which may be “deceived” by weather conditions phenomenon for fungi, but as yet I am not aware of into emerging earlier. Some, like Suillus granula- anything being published. tus, produce a few early specimens almost every Please remember that if you misplace your year. Others are less predictable, but sometimes Foray List or Directions, that these can be accessed fruit unexpectedly, producing undersized specimens on our website in the members section. The pass- which, in the genus Lactarius, Hesler & Smith re- word has been emailed to everyone, but if you have- ferred to as “nanospecies”. Leccinum aurantiacum n’t received it, email me. MATERIAL FOR THE AUTUMN, 2006 EDITION SHOULD REACH THE EDITOR BY AUGUST 30TH (Submissions should preferably be typed or submitted in Rich Text Format on PC floppy disk or by e-mail) LI Sporeprint is published quarterly. Material herein may be freely copied by any non-profit organization if appropriate acknowledgements are made. LONG ISLAND MYCOLOGICAL CLUB President:Peggy Horman Sporeprint Editor: Joel Horman Treasurer & Membership Secretary: Peggy Horman 11Ramblewood Rd., Ridge, NY 11961 (631) 744-4965 e-mail: [email protected] Tel: (631) 744-4965 Recording Secretary: Monique Dussault e-mail: [email protected] Foray Chairman: Jacques Brochard Editorial Ass’t: Peggy Horman Species Recorder: Position Open Board Members: Rita Blinderman, Webmaster: Dale Robins Paul Fox, Ken Gobright, Lyle Peters Leonard Schecter. SUMMER, 2006 3 (Continued from page 1) A second set of experiments supported this (forming branched structures called arbuscules) and conclusion by showing that native trees grown in snake through the soil in an intricate interwoven soils conditioned with garlic mustard (weeds were network of mycelium, which effectively extends the grown in soil, then removed) had lower AMF coloni- plant's root system. AMF depend on the plant for en- zation and impaired growth than when grown in soil ergy, and the plant depends on the fungus for nutri- conditioned by native plants. Since adding extracts ents. Many non-native plants, including garlic mus- of garlic mustard impaired AMF colonization and tard, do not depend on native AMF and often take seedling growth as effectively as the whole plants root in landscapes altered by development or log- did, the researchers concluded that garlic mustard ging, where AMF networks are disturbed. When uses phytochemical poisons to disrupt native plants' these non-mycotrophic invasives propagate, they mycorrhizal associations and stunt their growth. may diminish AMF densities even further. Stinson et al. go on to show that garlic mus- Biologists are especially concerned about tard's impacts vary with a native plant's AMF de- what might happen if a non-mycorrhizal invasive pendency. Plants with fewer roots to take up nutri- plant turns up in a mature, intact forest with an es- ents—like the hardwood seedlings studied here— tablished mycelial network—which is just what gar- will be most affected by garlic mustard invasions. lic mustard has started to do. In the North American This suggests that garlic mustard is invading the forests it has recently invaded, the plant inhibits the understory of mature forests because it's poisoning growth of understory plants, including the seedlings the lifeblood of its woody competitors. If true, the ap- of canopy trees. Stinson et al. suspected the invader pearance of this noxious weed in an intact forest might somehow be thwarting the symbiotic relation- promises to have devastating impacts. First the ship between fungus and tree. plant will stifle the regeneration of the dominant To test this possibility, they collected soil canopy trees, and then it will pave the way for weedy from five forests in Ontario dominated by four spe- plants that don't like the beneficial fungi.