Effects of mushroom harvest technique on subsequent American matsutake production

Globalised forest-products: commodification of the matsutake mushroom in Tibetan villages, Yunnan, Southwest China

“…Though, as we have already argued, there is a need for further research into the impact of livestock grazing, this indigenous understanding of matsutake is already supported by existing experiments showing the negative impact of disturbance such as human traffic on matsutake (Egli et al 2006;Luoma et al 2006;Egli 2011). In relation to forest conservation, moreover, research elsewhere has shown that livestock grazing can retard forest recovery and contribute to forest degradation (Aide et al 1996;Stern et al 2002).…”

“…In addition, despite concern from some scientists and government officials, overharvesting may not be a major conservation issue for ectomycorrhizal fungi species (Pilz and Molina 2002;Robinson et al 2013). Instead, disturbances such as logging, displacement of soil or leaf litter, and trampling of underground mycelia are more likely to reduce fruiting body numbers than harvesting pressure alone (Egli et al 2006;Luoma et al 2006;Egli 2011). Moreover, due to their relative resilience against overharvesting, time-tested widespread (local to global) appeal, and inability to be cultivated, wild fungi in our study area may overcome many of the barriers to commercialization of NTFPs identified by Belcher and Schreckenberg (2007)-including niche or fad-driven demand, issues of intellectual property rights, and product research and development costs.…”

A sampling method for estimating sporocarps production of wild edible mushrooms of social and economic interest

“…The specimens eaten by fauna were recorded in the inventory for calculating the production of matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare) carried out by Luoma et al (2006). These authors observed any signs of soil disturbance, teeth marks or sporocarp fragments in order to conclude that the specimens had been consumed.…”

“…Nara et al (2003) used little flag next to the fungi to identify the sporocarps that had been sighted and to avoid double counting. Other authors have marked sporocarps with a innocuous dye on the cap (Egli et al, 2006;Luoma et al, 2006).…”

“…The proposed sampling method takes place on a weekly basis; an interval of this length is considered by Luoma et al (2006) as optimal to carry out mycological inventories. This periodicity can be adapted to each species if their life cycle is shorter than this interval or they can suffer incessant attacks by insects or other organisms (Richardson, 1970;Mehus, 1986).…”