MLCO 2018-2019 Annual Summary
After their initial formation in February of 2017, MLCO was anxious to do some documenting of area species in INaturalist and to send some fungi samples for DNA analysis. Here are the highlights for their action-packed first year.
- Created a working list of the 717 species of macrofungi known in Lane County by combining together the Mount Pisgah Show list with the Forest Service’s list, the LCC Herbarium list, the Honeyman State Park list and a study by Dr. Bitty Roy of Prairie Fungi.
- Created protocols on how to photograph fungi and how to use iNaturalist. These protocols are available on the newly created MLCO section of the CMS website.
- As of June 1, 2019, the MLCO project has 2531 observations and 537 species in INaturalist.
- During 2018-2019, MLCO submitted 356 fungus samples for DNA testing through the National Macrofungi project.
- MLCO received grants/funding for DNA sequencing from the North American Mycoflora Project ($300), CMS ($533), Gifts ($560), and a Fundraiser at the National Tap House ($184). The National Forest Service also provided $2000 in funding for the sequencing of 200 species from Willamette National Forest lands.
Held 3 foray collection events in coordination with CMS:
- October 6, 2018 – Inaugural foray to Salt Creek Falls led by Dr. Bitty Roy. 32 species within 24 different genera were documented and collected.
- November 10, 2018, foray to the Upper McKenzie led by Bruce Newhouse. 42 species within 30 different genera were documented and collected.
- December 1-2, a foray to the Marcola Hills area coupled with a microscopy workshop at Lane Community College. Both the foray and the workshop were conducted by Noah Siegel and Susie Holmes. 43 species within 25 different genera were documented and collected.
