Continued from page 35.


by a handful of fungal species—that’s a lot more than other infectious diseases we hear much more about such as malaria and superbugs like MRSA.” And yes there are even a few


mushroom species causing concern. Amanita phalloides, the Death Cap, seems to be spreading all around the globe, and making headlines wherever humans consume it—mistaking it for other, edible species. And the European Amanita muscaria seems to be moving around with some timber species grown in tree farms and plantations—the concern is that this mushroom will become naturalized and outcompete other native mycorrhizal fungi, with unknown effects to the native trees. In the East we are now beginning to see the Golden Oyster mushroom, Pleurotus citrinopileatus, naturalizing and spreading in some forests. It’s become quite common in some parts of the Midwest (I’ve collected it several times). I guess the good news here is that it’s a tasty and gregarious mushroom, so pick all that you can. While there have been few success


stories—once established, invasive species are very difficult to remove—I take some solace in the fact that people are now becoming aware that our environment is under attack from invasives. People are removing garlic mustard, Scotch broom, Asian honeysuckle, buckthorn, and countless other plants from nearby woodlands. Tere are even clubs organized for this purpose. Tis was not the case a century ago. While we may not be able to turn back the clock on many or even most invasives, getting the public educated and involved can help keep many of these pests in check.


Global Climate Change


… and Fire Climate change and its effect on


the planet is a newly emerging field of science and the final chapter on the causes and outcomes have yet to be written. Overwhelming evidence shows that as the oceans warm, many coastal regions will experience dramatic increases of moisture, inundation (as melting polar ice will result in rising sea levels), and the frequency and strength of storms will increase. Inland areas


38 FUNGI Volume 14:4 Fall 2021


will experience hotter and drier years resulting in more frequent wildfires. Tese grim scientific predictions are being borne out; for North America, 2020 was the worst year ever for all of these calamities. Tere were unprecedented wildfires in Greenland and above the Arctic circle this year (not hyperbole, areas that were recently tundra are now fire prone). Pretty much all of Australia was recently on fire. And as this edition of FUNGI was about to go to press, the largest fires, ever, are consuming much of Patagonian South America. In Brazil alone, more than 2.7 million acres—an area about the size of Connecticut—were lost in 2020, and this was 10% more than the previous year of fires there, which at the time were unprecedented. Te wildfires around the globe have


caused tremendous loss to human life and property, and are inflicting lasting damage on species and ecosystems. In 2020 alone, California, Oregon, and Washington saw fires consume some 2 million hectares, killing at least 35 people. And in Australia the damage is even more epic. A single wildfire in California’s Sequoia National Park last year destroyed 10% or more of the world’s giant sequoia trees. Some of those were more than 2,000 years old and 250 feet tall; the total loss was thought to be between 7,500 and 10,000 trees. Te journal Science reported that


from September 2019 to March 2020 (Australian fire season), more than 11 million hectares burned, mostly in the continent’s southeastern forests, killing at least 34 people; overall, a staggering 20% of the nation’s total forest cover was lost. Even normally fire-proof rainforests and wetlands were scorched. As in Australia, scientists fear the loss of habitat has threatened species with small populations or restricted ranges—likely causing extinctions to some—and could potentially lead to permanent ecological changes if burned landscapes fail to rebound in a warming climate. A report by the Australian government estimated that 114 threatened plant and animal species lost 50–80% of their habitats; 327 species saw more than 10% of their ranges burn. As a result, scientists are asking the Australian government to expand its endangered species list. At least 41 vertebrates that were not endangered before the fires now face


existential threats; an additional 21, already listed as threatened, might need greater protection. Of course there are some ecosystems


that have long been fire prone and indeed, some organisms require fire to thrive. Fire can exterminate invasive species that should have never been there in the first place. But the extensive and frequent fires we’ve seen of late, overall have had a negative impact. Already, some ecosystems in North America that have had frequent or intense burns are not regenerating. And in many places, the loss of vegetation has led to new invasive species moving in. In some places, such as the sagebrush ecosystem of the Great Basin east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and forests in the Klamath Mountains along the California-Oregon border, invasive shrubs or grasses appear to have taken over.


Fire and Infectious Disease Te impact of wildfires is felt in many


ways—and at times quite remotely. Of course, there is the immediate and obvious destruction to the habitat. Smoke from wildfires can drift very far from the burn site and can have a major impact on humans and other creatures. In 2020, air quality across the western USA reached extremely unhealthy to hazardous levels for successive weeks for most of the second half of the year. I was on the ground in several western states and experienced this firsthand. Everyone knows about the pulmonary and cardiovascular consequences of human exposure to common smoke (and the particulate matter of smoke). Not all smoke is the same—depending on what is burned, smoke can of course contain all sorts of harmful chemicals and toxins. Tis should be no surprise to anyone. But did you know that smoke from forest and wildland fire is a source for bioaerosols and microbes—mostly fungal and bacterial cells and their metabolic by-products? And these are known to affect human health. Tis is a concern for anyone suffering from asthma and bronchitis, which can be exacerbated by exposure to wildfire smoke. But because the microbes that go aloft as a part of smoke may still be living and infectious, the few scientific studies conducted so far, indicate that wildfire smoke is leading to increasing rates of


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