Fungi of the Mornington Peninsula Presented by Alison Pouliot

Autumn is the season for fungi and Alison, a photographer, ecologist and expert on fungi, presented to a number of local groups last week.

These talks were organised by the Main Creek Landcare Group and the Mornington Peninsula Shire Natural Resources Team.

Alison had beautiful displays of very different forms of fungi and she engaged us all in the mysteries of the species.

We learnt of the symbiotic relationship between trees and fungi which allows trees to take up water and nutrients from the soil more easily and fungi to feed in the sugars photosynthesised by the trees.

The term 'Woodwide Web' has been coined to explain the underground connections between trees that is made by large fungal network structures.

Fungi are able to provide nutrients to ailing trees and trees can 'transport' aid to distressed trees via these fungal networks.

Alison mentioned the book 'Finding the Mother Tree' by Suzanne Simard, as a reference to learn more about these fascinating relationships.

The science of fungi has lagged behind the study of botany and zoology. There is much to discover and understand.

Mycologists are very interested in findings of citizen scientists and Alison encouraged us all to photograph and upload photos of fungi with iNaturalist to help build this body of information.

There was also a display of a number of books Alison has written on fungi:

Fungi Obscura .. a book on the science of Fungi

Underground Lovers, Encounters with Fungi

The Allure of Fungi....science book

Wild Mushrooming, a Guide for Foragers

Meeting with Remarkable Mushrooms, Forays with Fungi Across Hemispheres

This 2023 document written, researched and with photographs taken by Alison and produced by the Shire, is excellent.

To preserve the fungi on your soil

• try to minimise disturbance and cultivation

• minimise compaction and consider the weight and frequency of vehicle travel over the soil.

• Don't overwater

• Think about leaving fallen timber and leaf litter of all different sizes, if function and aesthetics allow. (Apparently there are no wood chippers in nature😏).