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Ways of surveying for fungi
It is important to determine the types of things you want to know about fungi in your area, as this can determine the way you may go about observing them, and the type of things you may record. Building up a knowledge base of fungi in local areas can be an ongoing process taking place over many years as the fungi fruit at unpredictable times and places. Fungal surveys can be based on observations only, or fungal specimens may be sampled. Surveying local fungi can be done randomly or systematically.
A simple way: Searching for fungi can be a relaxing pastime for people of all ages and interests, done almost at random or by chance during unplanned walks in suitable areas. This is the easiest and simplest survey and there may be no need to actually pick the fungi, and therefore little disruption to the fungi or soil. People may choose to photograph fungi without disturbing them. Virtually no planning, equipment or financial expense is needed for this type of activity.
A more thorough way: More thorough surveys may involve establishing permanent plots randomly or in specific vegetation types within remnant woodlands. The larger and more variable the remnant, the more or larger the plots needed. Trampling and disturbance need to be minimized in any survey, but more so for repetitive surveys on permanent plots. All the fungi seen on plots can be recorded, but there is little need to measure number of fruit bodies - just lots or few, or simply presence/absence. If the purpose of surveys is to compare different remnants, some consistency in surveying is required. For example, have the same number and size of plots in each remnant, and same time/person effort for each plot. Effort can best be standardized by allocating the same time on each plot no matter how many people are surveying, e.g. 20 minutes per plot would require 1 person for 20 mins., or 2 people for 10 mins.
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