Green-Wood Fungi Phenology Project

The Green-Wood Fungi Phenology Project is a citizen scientist -based effort to collect data about and study fungal colonies within Green-Wood Cemetery. We are interested in how fungi respond to and inform understanding of seasonal change as well as broader environmental trends associated with global warming.

Green-Wood is an ecologically rich and well-documented site that lends itself to being a laboratory for understanding the role of fungi in urban natural settings. Our emphasis on phenology means that we are keen on the timing and location of the observations made of fungal activity. We also intend to link our observational data to other seasonal and geo-spatial data in order to provide a launching point for project-specific analytics and visualizations.

We do have a particular scientific focus: the relationship of mycorrhizal fungi to the mature and veteran trees of Green-Wood. Some species, such as oak and pine, are well known as symbiotic partners of fungi. Tracking the distribution and fruiting of mycorrhizae in Green-Wood should contribute to the understanding of these tree populations in urban settings.

This project has been recognized and funded by the Fungal Diversity Survey. One of the principle goals is to recruit and educate local community volunteers to support the goals of the project. less ↑