Fungi in Shropshire

This weekend saw a return visit to FSC Preston Montford for my final course in the University Certificate in Biological Recording and Species Identification - Identification of Macrofungi tutored by Irene Ridge. An interest in fungi (or mycology) was one of my earliest, after attending a fungi foray at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Hampshire, with the RSPB’s Phoenix group way back in 1996. This led me to purchase a compound microscope in 2000 but I found it difficult to master the techniques needed to prepare slides without tuition and soon moved on to other groups, hence my motivation to attend this course and have another go.

After an introduction to fungi and how to record and describe specimens on the Friday evening it was off to Attingham Park on Saturday to collect our own specimens.




This site introduced me to grassland fungi, a habitat which I had not forayed before. The short, old lawns around Attingham Hall are an example of waxcap-grassland, a fungal community characterised by waxcaps (Hygrocybe spp.), club fungi (Clavariaceae) pink-gills (Entoloma spp.) and earthtongues (Geoglossaceae). Waxcap-grasslands are of conservation interest as indicators of unimproved grassland, a threatened habitat in the UK. It is only recently they have begun to receive attention on their ecology and distribution, with a English Nature Report published in 2003.

Snowy Waxcap Hygrocybe virginea

Apricot Club Clavulinopsis luteo-alba

Attingham is not all grassland though, there were many handsome mature trees in which we found some woodland fungi which were familiar to me. Irene explained the importance of taking good field notes when collecting fungi, many are mycorrhizal, a symbiotic relationship with plants, and some fungi species are restricted to certain tree species; without this information identification may not be possible. Whether the fungus was growing alone or in groups, was attached to wood or soil, and even the smell, colour and texture of the cap which may change after collection can be important for identification and must be noted on collection.

Artist’s Bracket Ganoderma sp. (probably G. applanatum) on Beech

A jelly-fungus, Exidea nucleolus

Irene discusses the identification features of a Boletus fungus

Back in the lab we began identifying our collections using a mixture of identification books and keys. I began by making spore prints as the colour of the spores is a key feature in identification, in the past I had done this by cutting the cap off and putting it on white and black paper but Irene demonstrated suspending the fruit body over a microscope slide in a cup. This keeps the specimen moist, as spores do not drop when the atmosphere is dry, explaining why I was not very successful with mine in the past!



On the Sunday we were off on another trip, this time to woodland at Nesscliffe Country Park.

Beech woodland at Nesscliffe – lots of lovely leaf litter!

Russula ochroleuca

Russula is one of my favourite fungi, they generally have a typical mushroom shape, crumbly flesh and gills (their common name is brittlegill). There are many species, often with brightly coloured caps like the yellow Russula ochrolecua we found in numbers at Nesscliffe, this is very common species which grows with many species of trees, but other Russula form mycorrhiza with specific trees and are one of the groups were good field notes are important. They are also identified by differences in cap and spore colour, ideally using a colour card as this can be subjective. Taste can also be important, which is checked by chewing a small piece which is then spat out, some have a very hot taste. This multisensory aspect of fungi identification is part of the appeal for me although the subjective nature of colour, smell and taste can be a problem, with some books describing species as smelling of obscure things as ‘Russian leather’ and ‘old laundry soap’!

Jelly Ear Auricularia auricula-judae

Also at Nesscliffe I found a branch covered with wonderful Jelly Ear (Auricularia auricula-judae) one of my favourite fungi as it looks so much like an ear. I also found a tiny jelly fungus growing on beech mast while I was searching (unsuccessfully) for the beechmast fungus Xylaria carpophila. Another highlight was the Wood Woollyfoot (Gymnopus peronatus) which as the common name suggests has a lovely ‘woolly’ base to the stipe.

Wood Woollyfoot (Gymnopus peronatus) in habitat and close up in the lab showing woolly base to stipe

Another old favourite is “smell it before you see it” Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) although we only found in the ‘egg’ stage and one old specimen, both badly eaten by slugs, missing out on in its erect magnificence.

Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) ‘egg’

Back in the lab Irene gave a demonstration of microscopy techniques for fungi and I had a go myself, finally seeing the spores, basidia and cystidia which I had failed to find on my own. These preparations involve taking a small piece of gill, putting a drop on a stain called Congo Red on top and then squashing a coverslip gently over the top. After blotting any excess liquid the slide is examined under a high power microscope. I was hoping to show some of my own slides but unfortunately I don’t have any Congo Red at home so the photomicrographs below are courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Basidia stained with Congo Red, the pointy bits on top are where the spores attach By Andreas Kunze (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Basidia (singular basidium) are the spore bearing structures in one of the major groups of fungi, the Basidiomycota which includes most of the species identified this weekend; the shape and number of spores is used in identification. Cystidia are sticky-outy cells found on various parts of the fungal fruit body, and the position, shape and reaction with certain chemicals are important for identification.

Cystidia By Andreas Kunze (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

The course finished with an assignment – identifying 15 specimens and/or photographs, it was strange to think it was my last on the course and that with my uCert and MSc complete I am for the first time in 7 years not in formal education! The two fungi forays and tuition in microscopy techniques were just what I needed to get back into fungi identification, I will be dusting off my old compound microscope and giving it another go!

Earthworm bothering in Yorkshire

One of the benefits of my MSc at the Natural History Museum was the opportunity to volunteer on fieldwork for Museum projects, such as my previous post on my trip to Scotland with the Museum Dipterists. This week I was in East Riding, Yorkshire, helping with fieldwork for the Soil Biodiversity Group on a big NERC funded project on the distribution patterns of UK earthworms in pasture and the environmental factors behind their biodiversity. This work is needed because of the lack of information on how earthworms are affected by management and climate - given their importance in ecosystem functioning this needs to be addressed. In addition to the benefits of gaining more experience in soil science fieldwork this was a much appreciated change from sitting at home looking for and applying for jobs/PhDs and to have contact with fellow scientists, which had been lacking since completing my Master’s.

Since I was passing the Museum anyway, I dropped in to help Dr David Jones, who is leading the fieldwork, to prepare and transport the equipment needed and then it was off to Kings Cross Station to meet fellow volunteers Georgie and Veronika. Our destination was Hull and then onwards to the village of Patrington, were we checked into the beautiful Dunedin Hotel – it even had a dinner gong!

On Monday we set off for our first sampling session at the survey site – Hodgson’s Fields in Skeffling, but unfortunately the rain became very heavy and we only managed six samples. Although rather wet the group took the opportunity to visit Spurn Head, a long finger of sand (spit) stretching across the mouth of the River Humber and an important nature reserve. Myself and David braved the rain to walk a little way along the spit and see where the sea had recently breached the road.

Sand washed over the road that could recently be driven down to the end of the spit

Mudflats at Spurn Head inundated by sand

This was a trip down memory lane to my Geography A Level were quite a lot of the syllabus was on spit formation and coastal erosion. Despite being wet through and starting to feel cold I was a bit overenthusiastic and had to be retrieved by David so we could all go back to Dunedin and dry off.

David collecting stones in the pouring rain, one of the last photographs I took before my camera expired. I also wrecked by waterproof over trousers by running up a dune too vigorously but gaffer tape is a wonderful thing.

Frustratingly Tuesday was more of the same but we were joined by another volunteer, Fez, which sped up the work. Sampling earthworms in grassland is a little different from the sampling I did for my MSc project. After marking out the samples using random coordinates, location and environmental measures are taken before a pit of a set size is dug from the ground. This soil is weighed and then comes the best bit – finding the earthworms! 

David and volunteers sampling earthworms. Left to right: me writing out the labels for worm tubes, Georgie with the flags used to mark the sample sites and Fez ready to weigh the soil (thanks to Veronika for the photograph)

Two methods are used to sample earthworms, which reflects the different habits (or ecoytpes) of the various species. Anecic earthworms make permanent vertical burrows deep in the soil, emerging at night to feed on leaves which they pull down into their burrows. This type of worm are forced from the soil using an irritating chemical called an expellant, we used mustard powder dissolved in water. While the pit is watched carefully for any worms that emerge a team work through the clod of soil for smaller worms which live amongst the roots, called endogeic worms. Finding these requires pulling apart the roots of the grass as they often live in-between, which was hard work when the grass was dense.

Veronika (left) and myself searching for earthworms while watching the mustard pit (thanks to Georgie for photograph).

David with a large Lumbricus earthworm from the mustard pit (thanks to Fez for the photograph)

While the earthworms are being collected and preserved in ethanol for identification back at the museum David takes a soil core which will be analysed by a team in York to measure dry weight, soil moisture and nutrient content. This involves a hamming a metal ring like a cookie cutter into the soil, often accompanied by swearing. The ring cuts a core of a set volume so each sample can be compared. Another soil sample is taken from the sorted soil which will be analysed to determine how much microbe activity there is in the sample.

Rain finally stopped play again at midday and with only one field complete out of three progress was becoming a concern but we cheered ourselves up after drying off with a lovely lunch at the excellent Sally Brown's Tea Room in Patrington.

To great relief the weather on Wednesday was much improved so we packed lunch for a full day in the field. Field two was large and tussocky, which made it hard work to travel across, especially with heavy bags full of bottles of mustard solution and soil samples. We worked under the watchful eye of sheep.

Entering field number two

With field two complete it was on to the next, with the weather being much more fieldwork friendly. However this field was grazed by a herd of English Longhorn cattle, and although we had been informed they were docile, they are a large and intimidating breed. Eventually we got the hang of how to move them by shouting and walking towards them to move them out of the way so we could continue working, but it had lost us some time.

I particularly like the cow second on the left which had one horn growing upwards and the other growing downwards!

Thankfully we had excellent weather for our final day and managed to herd the cattle and confine them to a another field so it was completed. With still another field to sample another team may have to come back but for us it was off to catch the train back to London after posting the soil samples to the York laboratory.

Despite getting wet through twice in as many days I had a fantastic time and feel energised by the fieldwork and interaction with others after feeling rather isolated since my MSc finished. It was also a good opportunity to speak to others at different stages in science careers to gain tips on job applications, useful organisations, contacts and generally ‘talk science’. As a result of a conversation on the trip I am attending the British Ecological Society Mastering Ecology Symposium to present my MSc work, something I which I have not had the confidence to do before.

For more information on earthworms visit the Earthworm Society of Britain. I will be back for more earthworm bothering next month in a different county!

Chasing flies in Scotland

Between handing in my MSc thesis and my viva voce, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to join Dipterists from the Natural History Museum on a collection trip to Scotland as part of the Dipterists Forum Autumn Field Meeting. Despite the daunting prospect of a long journey and sharing a cottage with people I barely knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for an intensive week studying flies which was also my first trip across the border.
I had a fantastic time, proving to me yet again that no matter how scary something seems it is always worth doing it anyway. I even had the honour of writing up the trip for Erica McAlister’s Curator of Diptera’s Blog, so rather than blog the trip here is
Field trips through the eyes of innocents….

Dipterists under the (double) rainbow, Knappach Cottage, Kingussie