Waxcaps: the hidden jewels in Yorkshire’s grasslands
Welcome to NEYEDC's latest project which aims to map fungi grassland sites across North and East Yorkshire and create a resource to help inform future land management.
Funded by Yorkshire Water's Biodiversity Enhancement Programme, this 3-year project starting in Autumn 2022, will recruit a cohort of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to help us catalogue and survey important fungi grassland sites. Unimproved, low-nutrient grasslands are a rare and threatened habitat in England, the product of traditional land management over centuries. The identification of specific grassland sites where fungi are present is essential to inform land management and conservation decisions, but existing biological records for grassland fungi are often not sufficient in detail to allow a record to be associated with a specific field or area of grassland. Our project hopes to improve our knowledge of these important sites throughout Yorkshire.
You can watch recordings of our launch event on our Youtube channel.
How can I get involved?
Casual Recorders
For those with no prior fungal survey experience, or who do not wish to take on the commitment of a more detailed survey, we are looking for casual volunteers who would like to use the WaxcApp Survey app (see below), developed by Plantlife and modified for our project, to record waxcap fungi whilst out and about this autumn. This could be a site you already know to host grassland fungi, or somewhere new to you that you stumble across; either way our casual volunteers will be essential to help us identify new sites to incorporate into our longer-term survey plan.
Copyright Claire Bending
Field Surveyors
Individuals wishing to extend their taxonomic expertise, or who know of a potentially good fungi grassland site that they would like to ‘adopt’ and survey over a number of years. Surveyors can use both the WaxcApp Survey (see below) to submit records, but also complete further training in fungal survey, before going out into the field to one or more local sites to further their knowledge with peer support.
2024 events
The following events are taking place this year in relation to the Yorkshire Waxcaps project. To express your interest in attending an event, please email info@neyedc.co.uk and include your full name and the event/date you would like to attend. Once signed up, specific details will be provided e.g. meeting place/time.
16/10/2024 - Grassland Fungi Improvers Session - Wensleydale, Yorkshire Dales - 10:00-15:00
18/10/2024 - Introduction to Grassland Fungi - Rosedale, North York Moors - 10:00-12:30
03/11/2024 - Grassland Fungi Improvers Session - Rosedale Abbey, North York Moors - 10:00-15:00
TBC - Foray - Malton area - 10:00 - 14:00
TBC - Foray - Richmond Racecourse - 10:00 - 14:00
TBC - Foray - Settle area - 10:00 - 14:00
TBC - Foray - North York Moors - 10:00 - 14:00
30/10/2024 - Microscopy for beginners - Dunnington, York - 19:00
• The introduction to grassland fungi sessions are aimed at those with no previous experience of fungi identification. We will be taking a walk through some fungi rich grassland and learning key ID features on our way.
• The improvers sessions are aimed at those with some fungi ID skills who wish to further their knowledge. These sessions are based in an indoor space but with plenty of time outdoors.
• The forays are informal sessions where we work as a group to identify and record fungi. Everyone is welcome and the group is usually made up of a mix of skill levels from beginners to experienced. We arrange the date through doodle poll to ensure that most people can come along, so please register your interest by emailing with details of the session(s) you would like to attend.
• The microscopy session is a new event for this year and is aimed at those wanting to start learning how to prepare slides and identify microscopic features such as spores.
For all sessions (apart from the microscopy session which will be indoors), please bring warm and waterproof outdoor clothing and suitable footwear for rough ground. A packed lunch will be required for the improver’s sessions and forays. Maximum walk length for all sessions will not exceed two miles, but there will be some inclines and uneven ground.
Existing Records
If you already know of a grassland that contains waxcaps, corals, earthtongues or pinkgills (often referred to as CHEGD fungi) and have species records for that site that you would be willing to share with NEYEDC, please do send them to us. You can email records using the button below, either in your own format, or you can download our CHEGD Fungi Recording Form template.
NEYEDC WaxcApp Survey
NEYEDC has been working in collaboration with Plantlife to create a Yorkshire-wide, project specific version of their very successful national Waxcap Watch Survey. This simple survey can be accessed via a smartphone app or website. It records the colour of waxcaps and corals and presence of earthtongues. It can be completed by anyone and will help us to better understand where waxcap and other grassland fungi habitat can be found across Yorkshire so we can focus efforts to protect them.
To download the survey to your smartphone, you first need to download the ArcGIS ‘Survey123’ app from the App Store or Google Play. Full instructions and FAQs can be downloaded here: NEYEDC WaxcApp
If this does not work for you, an alternative method is to download the Survey123 app and open in your phone, selecting ‘Continue without signing in’. Next, click on the small QR code logo in the top right-hand side of the app, next to the search bar. Scan the QR code here and the NEYEDC Waxcaps survey should download.
Alternatively, you can record the information using pen and paper in the field on our WaxcApp Survey Form Crib Sheet and email us your results or enter them online here: NEYEDC WaxcApp Survey Form
WaxcApp Interactive Map
The results of NEYEDC’s WaxcApp survey are displayed on the interactive map below, these include observations made in 2020 and 2021 as part of Plantlife’s national project as well as those that will be entered during 2022 and beyond as part of this project. If you cannot see the map below, follow this link to open in a new browser window: NEYEDC WaxcApp Map
Use the legend buttons on the right-hand side of the map to zoom in/out and select the different survey years.
The WaxApp survey works by creating a score for each grassland where waxcaps and similar fungi species are found. The different coloured symbols represent the scores of each grassland site: Green are high scoring sites (12-29pts), Amber are moderate scoring sites (5-11pts), Red are low scoring sites (0-4pts). Just because a grassland doesn’t score very highly one year doesn’t mean it isn’t an important site and could yield different results another year.
Resources
There are some brilliant ID resources available to help your foray into identifying grassland fungi.
Steve Hindle at the National Trust has produced the following guides which cover various aspects of grassland fungi identification, including:
CHEGD Fungi Introduction
Waxcaps Key
Fairy Club Key
Pinkgill Diversity Key
Grassland Waxcap Identification Support Tool
This interactive tool created by Clare Blencowe at Sussex Biodiversity Records Centre allows you to enter grassland fungi features to help you reach a positive ID for your finds.
Plantlife have a variety of waxcap resources, including this helpful sheet covering some common species and identification tips.