Fungi are everywhere. They live in the soil, float in the air, digest dead plant material, parasitize other organisms or live in mutualistic relationships. They are essential for the functioning of nearly all ecosystems, yet they are very cryptic. In the Netherlands more than 10,000 species of fungi have been recorded, amongst which more than 5000 species of mushrooms.
Inshort
Although you would think we know everything about the biodiversity of the Netherlands, this cannot be said about the fungi of the Netherlands. Even large, mushroom forming genera remain understudied and hide a lot of cryptic diversity and misinterpretations. I collaborate with the Dutch Mycological Society (www.mycologen.nl) to combine field knowledge and morphological identification with DNA barcoding to understand better the macrofungi of the Netherlands. Together we delimit species, document the macro- and microscopical characters and produce identification keys. This will a.o. lead to the publication of future volumes of the Flora Agaricina Neerlandica.