In Australia's largest cool temperate rainforest, Takayna/Tarkine in northwest Tasmania, a three-day fungi workshop led by mycologist Dr Alison Pouliot reveals the hidden world of fungi. Revered as one of the last true wilderness areas, this landscape has sheltered astonishing creatures for 65 million years, but fungi are even older. "People often say that fungi grow in the forest," Pouliot explains. "But there wouldn't be a forest without fungi. Fungi are the ecosystem engineers that created the foundation for the forest."
Saprotrophic Fungi and Ecosystem Balance
Saprotrophic fungi like the ruby bonnet (Cruentomycena viscidocruenta) break down dead organic matter, preventing the forest from being overrun with waste. These organisms are essential for nutrient cycling, and researchers estimate there are 2-3 million fungal species globally, with just over 205,000 identified. Mushrooms are merely the visible part of complex organisms connected by vast underground mycelium networks, which span an estimated 100 quadrillion kilometres. These networks allow fungi to form symbiotic relationships with up to 70% of plant species.
Workshop Participants and Activities
Joining Pouliot are toxicologists, botanists, and ecologists, all united by a sense of wonder. The workshop includes listening to Sylvia Plath's poem "Mushrooms," taking sporeprints that create photonegative imprints of mushroom undersides, and examining how language affects our view of fungi—why does love bloom, but crime mushrooms? In the afternoons, foraging trips depart from Corinna Wilderness Village, a former mining town turned eco village. Participants follow the tannin-stained Pieman River, admiring ancient Huon pines bowed low over the water.
Diverse Fungal Species Encountered
The group encounters delicate blue pixie's parasols (Mycena interrupta), fields of ruby bonnets, slime-covered earth tongues, giant bracket fungi the size of dinner plates, and echidna fungi with thousands of spiky teeth. "Probably the most charismatic species here," according to Pouliot, the sky-blue pixie's parasols have a circle of darker blue in their caps. The pagoda fungus (Podoserpula pusio) has tiered caps that maximise spore dispersal efficiency; every year, fungi worldwide produce more than 50 million tonnes of spores.
Fungal Density and Diversity
The wild variety of shapes and colours is matched by incredible density, with the group often covering less than 200 metres per hour. "It's hard to believe there's so much diversity in a tiny space," says Liz Davis, a workshop attendee from Orange who has foraged for 30 years and started the Mycology May festival in regional New South Wales. "Fungi hunting anywhere else is never going to compare." Because much fungal life remains invisible below ground, Pouliot says one could visit 100 times and still find different species each time.
Fungi as Ecosystem Engineers
Fungi are essential to the survival of almost every ecosystem, yet there is no agreed-upon collective noun for fungi (as opposed to mushrooms). Pouliot's interdisciplinary approach highlights their role in environmental restoration. A single eucalyptus tree can have hundreds of types of fungi attached to its roots. Fungi make up to 90% of the diet of some native marsupials on the mainland. Despite their name, jelly babies (Leotia lubrica) are not palatable for humans.
Reflections on Fungal Inheritance
The shared passion includes a sense of outrage that this vital kingdom remains undervalued. Sylvia Plath's poem "Mushrooms" celebrates the resilience and strength of fungi as a metaphor for gender equality, concluding, "We shall by morning / Inherit the earth. / Our foot's in the door." After three days in a rainforest built on fungal foundations, the author expresses gratitude for the bountiful inheritance of fungi.
