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Encouraging the amateur: Survey work in north-west England
162
ENCOURAGING THE AMATEUR: SURVEY WORK IN NORTH-WEST ENGLAND RITA COOK c/o Botany Department, Liverpool Museum, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 BEN
After three years of fieldwork organised by the Mycology section of the North Western Naturalists ' Union (NWNU). a fungi recorders' conference was held at Liverpool Museum on 4 April 1992. This article summarises a progress report which I presented at the conference. It describes an experiment in enlisting the support of a wide range of amateur mycologists. The aim was not only to .record a selection of common fungi, but also to educate a wider public and make them aware of the importance of fungi in the conservation of the environment. This project seems particularly apposite in the light of the view recently expressed by the Council of the BMS that it is 'failing to meet the needs of amateur mycologists'. Dr Jack Marriott, a staunch advocate of the interests of the amateur, was subsequently chosen to set up a working party to investigate ways of rectifying this problem and to send out a questionnaire to seek the views of associates of the BMS. We think the ideas and experience developed during the past three years in north-west England might be useful about whether such an approach would fulfil their needs in other regions. Background to the project
The NWNU survey was initially set up in 1983 in response to the BMS request for records of 50 selected species for a preliminary mapping scheme. The request prompted discussion about survey work generally, and more particularly about how our own local group functioned. The Mycology
section of the NWNU seemed fairly typical of amateur groups across the country. It consisted of a very small number of enthusiastic individuals and it seldom recruited new members. Although the Union covered a large area of the north-west, there was little if any contact with mycologists outside Greater Manchester and Merseyside. There was, moreover, no positive effort to recruit new members or to educate them when they did appear because existing members were either ill-equipped or had insufficient time for this activity. Moreover, education is a separate special skill, and as the study of fungi is comparatively difficult it is all too easy to 'frighten people off", AHthese factors had serious implications for any survey work we might wish to undertake. How can any survey be said to be useful if (1) it does not cover the ground thoroughly time and people needed - and (2) it does not produce accurate records expertise needed. Somehow we needed to develop new activities aimed at educating beginners and creating a wider group of people able and willing to contribute to the recording effort, It seemed to us that these aims might be best achieved by setting up an exercise focussed on some of the commonest and most easily recognised fungi, choosing these where possible from the existing BMS list. This gives even the less experienced recorders a purpose to aim for, while ensuring that the records are accurate and can contribute to the larger recording scheme. Three questions were posed: firstly ,
163
how should we recruit the required new members? Secondly, how should we ensure accurate recording? Thirdly , what species should we choose for the survey? The format for record sheets was hased on the 'Guide to Recording Fungi - Instructions for Recorders' issued by the BMS in 1990. Notes and advice on recording accompanied the record sheets. The criteria for species chosen for the list were ease of recognition, existence of illustrations in all the popular field gu ides, and availability of English names. In making the final selection, it was felt essential to include species representing various different genera and habitats, included mycorrhizal, parasitic and saprophytic species. Progress report The survey began in 1989. We recruited participants by advertising the project in the NWNU Newsletter, and requested records for seven species only. I'he response was disappointing; 10 individuals (onl y three of whom were new) and five societies submitted a total of 72 records. In 1990, a further request appeared in the Newsletter, and the list of species was increased to 13 . The response this year was more encouraging, with 16 individuals (ten new) and five societies submitting a total of 278 records. More forays were held, and the number of people attending individual forays also increased this year to an average of 20, almost certainly due to the television programme 'Mushroom Magic' which was shown on Channel 4. During this year, a fruitful partnership developed with the Natural History Centre of Liverpool Museum, which aimed to build links with the community of amateur naturalists in North-west England and to serve as a
centre for biological recording . By extracting mycological records from the Museum's existing Biological Field Data-bank, a computerised mycological database was established which enabled the survey to make use of a wider body of existing data and to experiment with map production. In 1991, a computerised database of some 300 possible recorders was prepared from various membership lists of North-west natural history societies, including the NWNU and the county conservation trusts. Letters, sample instruction leaflets and blank record sheets were sent to all these people. One not unexpected response took the form of requests from several groups of Countryside Rangers and other interested individuals for instruction in survey work and for more information about fungi. Evidently, there was already a significant demand for training in fungi identification, and it was felt worthwhile to spend some time with these beginners in order to produce more results in the future . For this reason I conducted five training sessions consisting of linked workshops and forays; the demand for these has further increased in 1992. Further interest was stimulated by a special exhibition of freeze-dried specimens of the target species at the Natural History Centre of Liverpool Museum, where record sheets were also made available for the public. Another initiative which led to wide publicity for the survey was the application for a grant from the British Ecological Society. The impressive publicity which the Society gave to the project, having awarded a grant in 1991, led to both television and radio coverage, and various newspaper and magazine articles reached an even wider audience than we had dreamed possible. The results in 1991 were
164
NORTH-WEST NATURALISTS' UNION - COMMON FUNGI SURVEY SITES SURVEYED TO END OF 1991 20
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:
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• •
90
• ••
80
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20
30
40
•• ••
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much more satisfactory: 73 individuals (57 new) and six societies contributed a total of 403 records. It is essential to retain the commitment of recorders by showing them the results of the scheme so far. With this in view, a conference was organised in April 1992 at Liverpool Museum where a progress report was given and where draft distribution maps were presented. In the afternoon, several exhibitions were displayed, including information from the national BMS mapping scheme and computer demonstrations of "Recorder" and "dBase" software which are used at the Museum for handling fungi data. The future The North-west Common Fungi Recording Scheme is planned to continue for at least a further ten years. There are two separate long-term objectives. The first is to continue the wide-ranging 'exploratory' approach in terms of site coverage, in order to
• : •••
•
•
• • •0
•••••
.II.
70
80
90
00
establish overall distribution patterns in greater detail. The second is to concentrate on repeated monitoring of known sites in order to survey the frequency and occurrence of particular species over time. With this objective in view, we intend to extend the range of species surveyed, to include 22 mainly mycorrhizal species whose status is to be monitored on a national scale. This initiative, which is being organised by Dr Jack Marriott, will involve setting up a network of projects like ours. H is very difficult, at the outset, to envisage how a project such as this might develop. One surprising discovery has been that it is not just rural areas which provide the mycologically rich sites; in this region, there are areas of industrial and derelict land which also support a rich fungal flora. This fact has not always been acknowledged in the past, and we hope that this will lead to a more enlightened approach to conserving fungal biodiversity in the future.
ENCOURAGING THE AMATEUR: SURVEY WORK IN NORTH-WEST ENGLAND RITA COOK c/o Botany Department, Liverpool Museum, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 BEN
After three years of fieldwork organised by the Mycology section of the North Western Naturalists ' Union (NWNU). a fungi recorders' conference was held at Liverpool Museum on 4 April 1992. This article summarises a progress report which I presented at the conference. It describes an experiment in enlisting the support of a wide range of amateur mycologists. The aim was not only to .record a selection of common fungi, but also to educate a wider public and make them aware of the importance of fungi in the conservation of the environment. This project seems particularly apposite in the light of the view recently expressed by the Council of the BMS that it is 'failing to meet the needs of amateur mycologists'. Dr Jack Marriott, a staunch advocate of the interests of the amateur, was subsequently chosen to set up a working party to investigate ways of rectifying this problem and to send out a questionnaire to seek the views of associates of the BMS. We think the ideas and experience developed during the past three years in north-west England might be useful about whether such an approach would fulfil their needs in other regions. Background to the project
The NWNU survey was initially set up in 1983 in response to the BMS request for records of 50 selected species for a preliminary mapping scheme. The request prompted discussion about survey work generally, and more particularly about how our own local group functioned. The Mycology
section of the NWNU seemed fairly typical of amateur groups across the country. It consisted of a very small number of enthusiastic individuals and it seldom recruited new members. Although the Union covered a large area of the north-west, there was little if any contact with mycologists outside Greater Manchester and Merseyside. There was, moreover, no positive effort to recruit new members or to educate them when they did appear because existing members were either ill-equipped or had insufficient time for this activity. Moreover, education is a separate special skill, and as the study of fungi is comparatively difficult it is all too easy to 'frighten people off", AHthese factors had serious implications for any survey work we might wish to undertake. How can any survey be said to be useful if (1) it does not cover the ground thoroughly time and people needed - and (2) it does not produce accurate records expertise needed. Somehow we needed to develop new activities aimed at educating beginners and creating a wider group of people able and willing to contribute to the recording effort, It seemed to us that these aims might be best achieved by setting up an exercise focussed on some of the commonest and most easily recognised fungi, choosing these where possible from the existing BMS list. This gives even the less experienced recorders a purpose to aim for, while ensuring that the records are accurate and can contribute to the larger recording scheme. Three questions were posed: firstly ,
163
how should we recruit the required new members? Secondly, how should we ensure accurate recording? Thirdly , what species should we choose for the survey? The format for record sheets was hased on the 'Guide to Recording Fungi - Instructions for Recorders' issued by the BMS in 1990. Notes and advice on recording accompanied the record sheets. The criteria for species chosen for the list were ease of recognition, existence of illustrations in all the popular field gu ides, and availability of English names. In making the final selection, it was felt essential to include species representing various different genera and habitats, included mycorrhizal, parasitic and saprophytic species. Progress report The survey began in 1989. We recruited participants by advertising the project in the NWNU Newsletter, and requested records for seven species only. I'he response was disappointing; 10 individuals (onl y three of whom were new) and five societies submitted a total of 72 records. In 1990, a further request appeared in the Newsletter, and the list of species was increased to 13 . The response this year was more encouraging, with 16 individuals (ten new) and five societies submitting a total of 278 records. More forays were held, and the number of people attending individual forays also increased this year to an average of 20, almost certainly due to the television programme 'Mushroom Magic' which was shown on Channel 4. During this year, a fruitful partnership developed with the Natural History Centre of Liverpool Museum, which aimed to build links with the community of amateur naturalists in North-west England and to serve as a
centre for biological recording . By extracting mycological records from the Museum's existing Biological Field Data-bank, a computerised mycological database was established which enabled the survey to make use of a wider body of existing data and to experiment with map production. In 1991, a computerised database of some 300 possible recorders was prepared from various membership lists of North-west natural history societies, including the NWNU and the county conservation trusts. Letters, sample instruction leaflets and blank record sheets were sent to all these people. One not unexpected response took the form of requests from several groups of Countryside Rangers and other interested individuals for instruction in survey work and for more information about fungi. Evidently, there was already a significant demand for training in fungi identification, and it was felt worthwhile to spend some time with these beginners in order to produce more results in the future . For this reason I conducted five training sessions consisting of linked workshops and forays; the demand for these has further increased in 1992. Further interest was stimulated by a special exhibition of freeze-dried specimens of the target species at the Natural History Centre of Liverpool Museum, where record sheets were also made available for the public. Another initiative which led to wide publicity for the survey was the application for a grant from the British Ecological Society. The impressive publicity which the Society gave to the project, having awarded a grant in 1991, led to both television and radio coverage, and various newspaper and magazine articles reached an even wider audience than we had dreamed possible. The results in 1991 were
164
NORTH-WEST NATURALISTS' UNION - COMMON FUNGI SURVEY SITES SURVEYED TO END OF 1991 20
:i • • •
.: 10
•
SO 00
:
SJ
• •
90
• ••
80
• 70
20
30
40
•• ••
50
much more satisfactory: 73 individuals (57 new) and six societies contributed a total of 403 records. It is essential to retain the commitment of recorders by showing them the results of the scheme so far. With this in view, a conference was organised in April 1992 at Liverpool Museum where a progress report was given and where draft distribution maps were presented. In the afternoon, several exhibitions were displayed, including information from the national BMS mapping scheme and computer demonstrations of "Recorder" and "dBase" software which are used at the Museum for handling fungi data. The future The North-west Common Fungi Recording Scheme is planned to continue for at least a further ten years. There are two separate long-term objectives. The first is to continue the wide-ranging 'exploratory' approach in terms of site coverage, in order to
• : •••
•
•
• • •0
•••••
.II.
70
80
90
00
establish overall distribution patterns in greater detail. The second is to concentrate on repeated monitoring of known sites in order to survey the frequency and occurrence of particular species over time. With this objective in view, we intend to extend the range of species surveyed, to include 22 mainly mycorrhizal species whose status is to be monitored on a national scale. This initiative, which is being organised by Dr Jack Marriott, will involve setting up a network of projects like ours. H is very difficult, at the outset, to envisage how a project such as this might develop. One surprising discovery has been that it is not just rural areas which provide the mycologically rich sites; in this region, there are areas of industrial and derelict land which also support a rich fungal flora. This fact has not always been acknowledged in the past, and we hope that this will lead to a more enlightened approach to conserving fungal biodiversity in the future.