North Kerry Waxcap Survey 2012 - the Northern Ireland Fungus Group

combination is not good for fungi. The wet cool summer leads to wet, sodden anoxic soils in
which are not ideal for mycelial growth followed by a drier spell just when the fungi need more
water to produce the fruiting bodies.
Date Rainfall (mm) Max Temp
(°C)
Min Temp
(°C)
Grass min
Temp
Sunshine
Hours
20/10/12 0 14.9 9.5 6.8 2.4
21/10/12 0 15.9 13.1 12.0 4.4
22/10/12 0 15.6 11.8 9.2 1.5
23/10/12 0 14.8 8.2 4.5 0.1
24/10/12 0 13.1 12.1 10.7 0
25/10/12 0 13.5 10.2 9.5 0.5
26/10/12 0 10.3 4.0 1.7 5.5
27/10/12 0 9.2 2.8 -2.1 8.6
28/10/12 6.9 10.4 8.3 5.3 0
29/10/12 0.5 11.7 5.8 1.4 2.9
30/10/12 1.6 10.8 7.2 5.6 1.6
31/10/12 12.3 10.4 4.0 0.4 3.3
01/11/12 7.6 9.1 3.9 2.5
02/11/12 6.4 9.7 1.7 -1.1
03/11/12 4.3 9.0 4.8 2.3
04/11/12 7.8 10.0 6.3 4.8
05/11/12 2.0 10.8 4.8 0.9
06/11/12 0 10.9 7.4 2.6
07/11/12 1.6 11.7 9.6 10.1
08/11/12 0.9 12.1 8.8 7.2
09/11/12 11.3 11.7 5.7 2.7
10/11/12 6.8 9.4 6.3 5.0
Table 5 – Daily weather statistics from Valentia Island over the study period
In terms of waxcap fruiting, one important measurement not readily available is number of
frost days. As fungi are largely water, frosts can destroy the fruiting bodies. From the above
daily figures, the nights immediately before the start of the survey had a frost and the
temperatures did not pick up until the second week. The first week was also particularly wet
which was not good given the sodden ground.
The weather for 2012 played a significant role in the fungal fruiting pattern and it was not
conducive to good fruiting for the reasons mentioned. This was not restricted to Ireland and
the feeling amongst mycologists in Wales looking at grassland fungi was that it was also a
poor year there. Woodland fungi were also poor in southern England (Henrici, 2012).
The very wet summer was not reflected everywhere in Ireland though with the more northern
weather stations of Belmullet and Malin Head reporting a normal or drier than average August
and July figures not as significantly high as Valentia Island. Hence it would be fascinating to
know what grassland fungal fruiting was like in these areas.
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