3000 Mushrooms - book and app

The possibilities of existing identification books and smartphone apps are limited, both in terms of the number of species and the reporting function for new species or localities. The Swiss Fungus Data and Information Centre SwissFungi is therefore supporting an innovative book and app project by Haupt Verlag and the mushroom book author duo Ruedi Winkler and Gaby Keller. The aim is to produce a new reference work that will be available as both a book and an app. The innovation consists in the use of a polytomous key for approx. 3,000 species, as well as a matrix key in which the occurrence of different characteristics and their combination are weighted according to probability. The extensive ecological data of the SwissFungi distribution atlas, such as phenology, substrate choice, mycorrhizal partners, etc., will also be used and put to value. A mushroom reporting tool developed by SwissFungi and Haupt Verlag as part of the project will be integrated into the app. In this way, important information on the distribution of various fungal species can be gathered. The new book and smartphone app will be an important basis to educate future generations of mycologists.