2006 Fungi of Fingal Woodlands - Fingal Biodiversity

Ecological Study of the Countryside Habitats in County Fingal Woodland fungi
Chapter 2 Methodology
Each site was traversed a number of times as shown on maps in Appendix I. By the end
of three visits it was considered that the most important zones within the sites had been
seen and sampled for fungi were fruiting this Autumn. Fungi are somewhat difficult to
survey as sound, mature fruit bodies must be intercepted for identification purposes,
unless one is to resort to expensive, high-tech means of sampling. Specimens were
examined on the day and on the days after field work was conducted.
Hand lenses and microscopes were used to determine species. A bibliography at the end
of this report features keys and books used in the identification process.
The Mycorec database updates fungal names to those of 2002. Current or most recent
synonyms are utilised in this report unless historical records are given. In these cases, the
modern name is noted in the database report.
Providing fungi records with information on the exact locations of the find is very
important. Short site visits took place in the late nineteenth century to St. Catherine’s
Park, from the Dublin Naturalists’ Field Club in particular. There is a slight complication
with some older records as St. Catherine’s was sometimes incorporated into Lucan
Demesne for the purposes of fungal recording. It can be difficult to pin down the locality
information for those records to north or south of the River Liffey. The importance of
locality details cannot be ignored now. Today, with the assistance of OSI maps and GPS
hand-held devices, we know where we are with more precision than ever before when
noting botanical information. We have a responsibility to record this information for
refinding species in future. Planning can take species and their needs into account in a far
better way if the exact locations of species and their habitat niches are known.
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