Searching for native Favolaschia

Favolaschia calocera is an invasive ‘weedy’ wood decomposing fungus that has been spreading rapidly in Australia since the 1990's. It is a threat to the diversity of indigenous fungi as it inhabits a broad range of substrates from twigs up to large logs. It also out competes native wood rotting fungi that help with nutrient cycling. It is able to live in the canopy of wetter forests, so airborne spores can spread widely and away from paths. It has spread across much of southeast Queensland, southwest WA, and eastern Victoria. There are isolated patches in NSW and northern Tasmania. Importantly, there are national parks and areas it so far hasn't reached. For example, there have been no reported sightings in the Wombat Forest or the Grampians in Victoria. Hygiene to prevent spread into new conservation areas is important. Recently MYCOmmunity (http://myco.org.au) have developed a LAMP test (loop mediated amplification) to detect Favolaschia DNA in the environment, which is specific to Favolaschia.