Champions of the hidden kingdom

The Italian authorities claim that more than 17 people have died this summer collecting mushrooms from its northern and central mountains. People, it appears, are taking increasing risks in gathering these most prized elements of Italian food. And, of course, mushrooms feature as prized items in the recipes of many other cuisines. But the prominence and respect for the few species of edible fungi belie an enormous ignorance about most of the other members of this vital kingdom of organisms. Biologists have worried about this in many attempts to tackle species conservation and bolster biodiversity but, at a meeting of mycologists at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh (RBGE) last month, a new society was established — the International Society for Fungal Conservation — to try to address this problem. As climate change and human activities impact the prospects of many species, researchers at the Edinburgh meeting believed that the fate of fungi is not receiving sufficient Feature attention within efforts to maintain biodiversity. Fungi are a huge assemblage of organisms — current estimates suggest there may be around 1.5 million species worldwide, of which only about 5 per cent have so far been described. " Although often confused with plants, fungi are in fact something totally different: a whole biological kingdom of their own, " says RBGE associate research mycologist, David Minter, who was responsible for convening the Edinburgh meeting and inaugurating the new society. Plants are the primary producers and animals are the consumers, whereas fungi are the A new society has been set up to raise awareness of the many unknown species of fungi in plans for preserving the planet's biodiversity. Unique: The famous Mount Olympus in Greece appears to be the only location of one species of fungi. (Photo: PCL/Alamy.)