Events

There are over 2000 described species of webcaps in the genus Cortinarius. Their abundance and global distribution make them ideal study subjects for the evolution of fungi. In the first half of this presentation I will talk about truffle-like sequestrate fungi (fungi that have enclosed spore-bearing surfaces) and theories about their evolution. I tested Dr. Harry Thiers’ hypothesis that sequestrate fungi evolved in habitats of low precipitation by correlating the amount of precipitation and the state of being sequestrate. I found that sequestrate Cortinarius species are more likely to be found in areas having a great daily change in temperature and they are more likely to be found in areas that have a seasonal change in precipitation....

The delicious surprises, the utter flops, the great tips, and the ultimate lessons I learned from making our Fantastic Fungi Community Cookbook.

While some species of Hygrophoraceae were described by Peck, Murrill, Singer, Hesler and Smith, many of the named species in Hygrophoraceae were described from Europe, and those European names have been applied to collections from North America. How many of these species on either side of the Atlantic are truly the same species? This presentation will go through a series of paired comparisons of molecular phylogeny and % similarity in ITS barcodes between European species and their American counterparts to address this question.

Many examples exist where fungi use other fungi as sources of nutrition, causing their fungal hosts to incur damage as a result. This phenomenon is called 'mycoparasitism', and it is surprisingly common in nature. Many common fungi that you may already be familiar with participate in this exploitative ecological relationship. Join Dr. James Scott from the University of Toronto for a brief tour of the fascinating world of mycoparasitism, and uncover some of the secret lives behind your favorite fungi!

The talk “Fascinating spores” will focus on spores, their role in the life of a mushroom, and on correlations between spore characters and life style and dispersal, with an emphasis on all the things that we don’t know! (please note: this talk will not be recorded)

Species of fungi are not immune to the threats that put species of animals and plants at risk: habitat loss, loss of symbiotic hosts, pollution, over exploitation, and climate. Because resources, financial and human, will always be limited, determining which species are thriving and which are rare or declining is crucial for targeting conservation action towards species in greatest need. Assessing the conservation status of a species (bird, plant, or fungus) requires some minimal data including information on its distribution, population size and trend, and information on why it might be in decline. Much of the data needed are observational – what occurs where and when and are these patterns changing....

Roo Vandegrift Description:Join Dr. Roo Vandegrift for a rapid romp through the Xylariales, an order of ascomycete 'flask' fungi, generally growing on wood and other plant debris. Learn the important families and genera within the order, illustrated with examples taken from an extensive fungal inventory conducted between December 2012 and May 2017 at the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (BHI) in Massachusetts (Haelewaters et al. 2018). A new species, Xylaria finismundoensis, is described: this taxon provides the decomposer 'missing link' for a group of a Xylaria previously only known as endophytes (a type of plant symbiont).

The Inocybaceae is an ectomycorrhizal family of mushroom-forming fungi with some 1000 species worldwide. Seven genera are now recognized in the family, but the last revision of North American taxa in the group took place nearly 100 years ago. Since this time the number of known species in North America has tripled, and various estimates put the number of species in the family from this area between 300-400. This overview will present an introduction to the family Inocybaceae, some evolutionary and ecological background, and showcase recent systematic developments in the group.