External Site: Fungi and Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland[info]
The importance of fungi for all aspects of life on Earth and the size of the fungi kingdom, which is six times larger than the kingdom of plant species, makes research in this little studied field crucial: for example, last year a new species of fungi was discovered in Pakistan which is capable of digesting and breaking down plastic; this could be a part of the solution to the global challenge of clearing plastic in oceans and on the land. The Fungi and Lichens website provides technical (but approachable) accounts of the current status of species in the British Isles, including descriptions, images, distribution data,ecology and conservation information. It is aimed at those with a serious interest in fungi, either as natural historians or professional biologists. The project is run by the Mycology Department at Kew Gardens who has just published the 2018 State of the World’s Fungi report.