A very specific guide to the fungi found in one of Santa Cruz's most unique landmarks: the UCSC Arboretum.
Mushrooms shape forest dynamics through their diverse ecological roles: mycorrhizal fungi support the health of plants, saprobic fungi cycle the forest’s nutrients and carbon, and parasitic fungi alter populations. What happens to mushroom diversity in an Arboretum where non-native plants from across the world are transplanted into native soils? This checklist is the product of a year-long investigation into that question. It includes visual and written annotations along with 24 DNA sequences taken from specimens collected during the project.