In an effort to contribute locally to a Fall MycoBlitz, Wildsight Golden supported a group of folks who took a trip into the Old Growth Rainforest located along the south side of the Kinbasket Reservoir on October 21st. This was done to start documenting some of the amazing mushrooms found in the endangered, ancient and intact Interior Old Growth Rainforest north of Golden. We wanted to start to unravel and document some of the incredible fungal diversity in that area!
Despite the ecological significance of fungi, we still know very little about their diversity in Canada. This diverse group of organisms can help tackle climate change and are major drivers of soil health and carbon sequestration, among other ecosystem functions. The “mushroom hunters” didn’t get too far into the forest before they found more mushroom species than they had time to document! Some of the collected specimens have since been dehydrated and mailed into a Mycolab in the United States where they will be DNA sequenced to help unravel more about the diversity of mushrooms on the continent. The patch of forest visited also has massive trees (one with a 3.5m diameter), huge stores of carbon, immense biodiversity, and is critical habitat for Mountain Caribou. Caribou scat was seen on the forest floor!
There are several old growth patches of rainforest still standing amongst the clear cuts around the Reservoir, and Wildsight Golden is keen to support initiatives that strive to learn more about them, working towards their conservation. Most of the old growth around the reservoir is currently locked up as old growth deferral areas, which temporarily protects them from logging. BUT that is a temporary measure. These rare forests have not been afforded with true protection. Please learn more about this one-of-a-kind ecosystem called the Interior Old Growth Rainforest and Stand With Us for the protection of these ancient and endangered ecosystems for now and for future generations.
Summary and photo by Rachel Darvill.