Marasmius. All images © Danny Newman, shared with permission
Scientists believe that less than 4% percent of the world’s fungi have been documented, which adds up to only 150,000 species described out of an estimated 2.2-3.8 million worldwide. Mycologists and have spent the last 12 years focusing on locations impacted by the climate crisis and increasing human interference, like Ecuador’s . Their stunning photographs () capture the vibrant hues, delicate gills, and thin stems of a vast range of fungi in the mountainous cloud forest.
In 2016, the Ecuadorian government declared the Los Cedros reserve—one of the last unlogged watersheds on the western slope of the Andes—open for mining, putting countless flora, fauna, and funga at risk. “In a stunning legal upset, the mining concessions which threatened to turn Los Cedros into a toxic, barren wasteland were by the Ecuadorian supreme court, who specifically cited…our fungal diversity research in their ruling,” Newman says.
Spanning six expeditions, the duo, with a team of scientists from both Ecuador and the USA, recently published an of their findings, cataloguing a wealth of previously unknown species and providing what Newman calls “one of the most comprehensive contributions to Ecuadorian mycology in the country’s history.” Vandegrift is also the producer of a visually stunning upcoming documentary titled , filmed in part during an expedition in 2018 and 2019.
Explore more images and descriptions on and both and ’s Instagrams.
Aurapex penicilliata
Favolaschia
Mycenaceae
Fibulostilbum phylaciicola
Agaricales
Ceriporia
Trichopeziza
Physalacriaceae
Physalacriaceae
Longisetae
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article appeared first on .
Related Posts
