GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

The Global Environmental
Shift and The Loss of
Species Diversity
Studies in Europe show a frightening loss
of species diversity in forestlands, most evident
with the mycorrhizal species. Many
mycologists fear many mushroom varieties,
and even species, will soon become extinct.
As the mycorrhizal species decline in both
numbers and variety, the populations of
saprophytic and parasitic fungi initially rise,
a direct result of the increased availability of
dead wood debris. However, as woodlots are
burned and replanted, the complex mosaic of
the natural forest is replaced by a highly uniform,
mono-species landscape. Because the
replanted trees are nearly identical in age, the
cycle of debris replenishing the forest floor is
interrupted. This new "ecosystem" cannot support
the myriad of fungi, insects, small
mammals, birds, mosses and flora so characteristic
of ancestral forests. In pursuit of
commercial forests, the native ecology has
been supplanted by a biologically anemic
woodlot. This woodlot landscape is barren in
terms of species diversity.
With the loss of every ecological niche, the
sphere of bio-diversity shrinks. At some presently
unknown level, the diversity will fall
below the critical mass needed for sustaining a
healthy forestland. Once passed, the forest
may not ever recover without direct and drastic
counter-action: the insertion of multi-age
trees, of different species, with varying canopies
and undergrowth. Even with such
extraordinary action, the complexity of a replanted
forest can not match that which has
evolved for thousands of years. Little is understood
about prerequisite microflora—yeasts,
THE ROLE OF MUSHROOMS IN NATURE 13
bacteria, micro-fungi—upon which the ancient
forests are dependent. As the number of
species declines, whole communities of organisms
disappear. New associations are likewise
limited. If this trend continues, I believe the
future of new forests, indeed the planet, is
threatened.
Apart from the impact of wood harvest, the
health of biologically diverse forests is in increasing
jeopardy due to acid rain and other
airborne toxins. Eventually, the populations
of all fungi—saprophytic and mycorrhizal—
suffer as the critical mass of dead trees
declines more rapidly than it is replenished.
North Americans have already experienced
the results of habitat-loss from the European
forests. Importation of wild picked mushrooms
from Mexico, United States and
Canada to Europe has escalated radically in
the past twenty years. This increase in demand
is not just due to the growing
popularity of eating wild mushrooms. It is a
direct reflection of the decreased availability
of wild mushrooms from regions of the
world suffering from ecological shock The
woodlands of North America are only a few
decades behind the forests of Europe and
Asia.
With the loss of habitat of the mycorrhizal
gourmet mushrooms, market demands for
gourmet mushrooms should shift to those that
can be cultivated. Thus, the pressure on this
not-yet renewable resource would be alleviated,
and the judicious use of saprophytic
fungi by homeowners as well as foresters
may well prevent widespread parasitic disease
vectors. Selecting and controlling the
types of saprophytic fungi occupying these
ecological niches can benefit both forester and
forestland.
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