Fungi

Question 1

Why are fungi important?

Answer 1

Fundamental roles in nutrient cycling and exchange in the environment - decomposition of organic matter
Food - mushrooms and truffles, leavening agent for bread, fermentation to produce alcohol and soy sauce
Medicine - antibiotics
Hallucinagens
Biological pesticides - eg Beauvaria bassiana
Negative effects - breakdown manufactured materials and buildings, human/animal pathogens, losses of crops due to fungal disease or food spoilage

Question 2

How is the kingdom of fungi divided and how many species are there?

Answer 2

One subkingdom, seven phyla and 10 subphyla

estimated 1.5-5 million species only 5% of which are formally classified

Question 3

Describe the largest phylum within the kingdom fungi

Answer 3

Ascomycota - defining feature is the ascus (sac)
More than 64,000 species, in 1985 5100spp. were identified in the UK
Represented in all land ecosystems on Earth, occurring on all continents including Antarctica
spores dispersed via wind an water
Important to humans - antibiotics, bread yeast, cheese, brewers yeast
- food - morels, truffles, dead mans fingers and cup fungi
- pathogens of humans and plants - rice blast, black knot, powdery mildew
- fungal symbionts in the majority of lichens

Question 4

Which organisation was responsible for the replacement document on fungi in 2006 and why hasn’t it worked out?

Answer 4

British Mycological Society
Full species list in the UK is still not known and neither are vulnerable species
Major problem is the fruiting frequency of most species and the lack of mycologists

Question 5

Name a nature reserve that protects a fungus

Answer 5

Suffolk has a roadside nature reserve to protect what is thought to be the last remaining British site of a puffball-like fungus Battarraea phalloides

Question 6

What is recording of fungi influenced by?

Answer 6

Conspicuousness
Microhabitat
Persistance of fruitbodies
Length of fruiting season
Timing of fruiting season
Weather
Ease of identification
Need for special techniques (eg. culturing)

Question 7

In what ways can fungi be helped in conservation of habitats?

Answer 7

Many fungi rated as rare/vulnerable in Britain are species of native pine forests. This habitat is already afforded high priority in conservation
Fungi of ancient deciduous forests, marshes, dune systems and the like are usually protected by measures taken to conserve the habitat
In woodlands it is important to keep old stumps, logs and fallen timber but this is already good conservation practice for the benefit of inverts. and the birds that feed on them

Question 8

Name some habitats that may have greater importance for fungi than they do for other organisms

Answer 8

Ancient “unimproved” pastures on acid soils
Abandoned coppice woodland (where dense canopy growth has shaded out the ground vegetation)
Coniferous woodland on acid soils

Question 9

Why are unimproved pastures dissapearing?

Answer 9

Ploughing and re-seeding
Use of chemical fertilisers
Abandonment of grazing
Afforestation

Question 10

Name the fungi used in the assessment of waxcap grasslands

Answer 10

Hygrocybe
Entoloma
Dermoloma
Geoglossaceae
Clavariaceae

Question 11

What are fungi?

Answer 11

Eukaryotic organisms both unicellular and multicellular
Cell walls contain chitin
Produce spores