Types of Fungus Found in Alaska

Brightly colored lichen flourish in the Last Frontier.

Every acre of Arctic tundra contains "more than two tons of live fungi," according to the Alaska Science Forum. Most of Alaska's 250 types of wood-inhabiting fungus belong to the biological order Ascomycetes, or cup fungi. Simple plants that have no roots, shoots, stems or leaves, fungi play an important role in adding nitrogen to plants trying to grow in the poorer soils of the Arctic.

Varieties

Cup, jelly, pored, coral, tooth, puffball, gilled and lichenized fungi live in Alaska, even in its northernmost spot, Point Barrow.

Effects

Fungi gain access to wood via beetles, woodpecker holes, damage to bark by moose, wounded roots, nibbling rodents or high winds. Having gained access, the fungi begin to rot the wood.

Function

Alaska fungi recycle the nutrients in dying wood and add essential elements for new plant growth.

Identification

Alaska fungi vary widely in size, color and shape, resembling not only classic toadstools but also sea corals and eggs, with shades from salmon to green, white, purple, brown and yellow. Slime molds look like brightly colored blobs.

Risks

Many gilled mushrooms in Alaska are not edible, writes University of Alaska mycologist Gary A. Laursen, especially Galerina autumnalis, a deadly poisonous fungi with a pretty cap the color of rich leather. Lauresen recommends consulting a mycologist before selecting an Alaska fungus for eating.

History

Alaska natives have used fungi as components of medicines, smoking mixtures, punks to carry fire on journeys, fabric for clothing and curry combs to brush animals.

References

• Wood Inhabiting Fungi in Alaska: Their Diversity, Roles, and Uses
• 15N in Symbiotic Fungi and Plants Estimates Nitrogen and Carbon Flux Rates in Arctic Tundra
• Tundra Fungi

Resources

• Alaska cups and morel-like fungi
• A Fungus Among Us: New Species to Science from the Chugach National Forest