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Foraging is a centuries-old practice, but many of the mushrooms in British Columbia are just now being identified through DNA sequencing and the enthusiasm of amateur collectors.
Mary Berbee, a professor in the department of botany, is responding to the increased interest in foraging by developing an app in collaboration with the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, B.C. Centre for Disease Control, regional mushroom clubs, and UBC’s Peter Wall Institute Institute for Advanced Studies that will help collectors identify mushrooms out in the woods in order to avoid poisonous species.
Why are you creating an app for identifying mushrooms?
More and more people are attached to their phones. It’s increasingly the case that people will have their cellphones and not field guides – books that list different mushroom species – when they go out in the woods. Posters can be useful but they are static. The app shows all the lookalikes for mushrooms that you might find in the area, and it’s easier to cross reference.
Continue reading at University of British Columbia (UBC).
Photo via University of British Columbia.
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