A kind of fungus that has never been seen in science is one of the ‘wild and fantastic’ species that have been found in the Cairngorms. As a result of the investigation, which involved hillwalkers collecting soil samples from some of Scotland’s highest summits, a hitherto unknown Squamanita species was found. Volunteers collected 219 soil samples in 2021 at various elevations on 55 of the 58 Munros in the Cairngorms National Park.
Scientists at the James Hutton Institute took DNA from the soil and sequenced it to discover 2,748 distinct species of fungal creatures in them.
One of them was the polar species of fungus Amanita groenlandica, which had never before been found south of Scandinavia. It was a fungus that originated in Greenland.
Another fungus, Acrodontium antarcticum, was found; it is indigenous to Antarctica and has never before been recognised in the UK. These two endangered species, which have never been found together, are said to enjoy Scotland’s Cairngorm Mountains’ frigid environment and climate.
The soil samples also contained other oddities like the ‘Strangler’ fungus (Squamanita contortipes), which has the ability to subjugate other fungi. The brilliant and colourful Violet Coral fungus, one of the UK’s rarest grassland fungi, was also present in two Munros’ grasslands.
Our alpine ecosystems significantly rely on fungi to function, yet we know relatively little about their distribution and variety in this well-known environment since they are primarily subterranean and difficult to access.
The results of this study will considerably advance our understanding of this essential group thanks to the combined efforts of volunteers and scientists, and they may be used to begin determining which habitats and locations are particularly crucial for the preservation of fungal diversity.
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