Arb-Mycota what do you want from books?

[David Goss]

Great idea this Tony

First time i have seen this thread so excuse me for being slow.....

I think the best way to go about this is to have the layout of the book going from common to uncommon species of fungi and have it broken into tree species. So you would say start with Ash and then list each fungi starting with the most common and their characteristics e.g. white rotter, brown rotter etc. I think maybe just doing alphabetical order for the tree species would be easiest to follow for us non myco psychos. Obviously many of the fungi will effect more than one species but for these you only need to link to where it was printed first which will keep the book as small as possible for field use.

 

Just a few ideas that sprung to mind instantly as i read the first page or 2 of this thread. I have not read it all as yet because its late and i dont have time right now, just thought i would throw in my pennies worth while it was forming in my head.

Put me down for a copy whenever you get it together.... when do you think it will become reality?

Keep up the good work

[Jesse]

Great idea this Tony

First time i have seen this thread so excuse me for being slow.....

I think the best way to go about this is to have the layout of the book going from common to uncommon species of fungi and have it broken into tree species. So you would say start with Ash and then list each fungi starting with the most common and their characteristics e.g. white rotter, brown rotter etc. I think maybe just doing alphabetical order for the tree species would be easiest to follow for us non myco psychos. Obviously many of the fungi will effect more than one species but for these you only need to link to where it was printed first which will keep the book as small as possible for field use.

 

Just a few ideas that sprung to mind instantly as i read the first page or 2 of this thread. I have not read it all as yet because its late and i dont have time right now, just thought i would throw in my pennies worth while it was forming in my head.

Put me down for a copy whenever you get it together.... when do you think it will become reality?

Keep up the good work

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Doing this by tree rather than by fungi first might work out well, but it would mean that the tree species being the leading factor would see one fungi re listed many times throughout the book and make it more than a field guide.

 

I think this principle idea is good, but making it work will be difficult.

 

what I might do is start with an entry on woodland ecology and list say the most common woodland structures and then the species that thrive in those particular ecologies. This would also need to be kept simple by natives only.

 

for example predominantly oak, or beech woodland predominantly ash or pine or larch for example.

 

I think your really asking too much of a "field guide" this is really more a woodland ecology book and that would require a big volume, more akin to the woodsmans bible!

[David Goss]

Doing this by tree rather than by fungi first might work out well, but it would mean that the tree species being the leading factor would see one fungi re listed many times throughout the book and make it more than a field guide.

 

I think this principle idea is good, but making it work will be difficult.

 

what I might do is start with an entry on woodland ecology and list say the most common woodland structures and then the species that thrive in those particular ecologies. This would also need to be kept simple by natives only.

 

for example predominantly oak, or beech woodland predominantly ash or pine or larch for example.

 

I think your really asking too much of a "field guide" this is really more a woodland ecology book and that would require a big volume, more akin to the woodsmans bible!

 

I can see what your saying but i think it doesnt need to be complicated. I think that once you list the tree species specific fungi then the rest should fall into place quite easily, e.g. Kretz effects many different species so the first tree with this fungi in the book will have all other effected trees linked to it, so you would have just the fungi name and beside it you would have the link "see tree, page whatever"

Yes you would have fungi listed many times but it would just be the name so therefore not taking up extra space. I also think that with the field guide you wouldnt need to list every fungi in your arsenal and should keep it to the common species, up to a certain point where the fungi become rarer and then this would be in your second more detailed book.

Really you will need 2 books imo, one being the simplified field guide and with the second being an in detail account of everything you can possibly think of. Not an easy task i am sure but you started it:001_tt2:

My biggest problem in finding fungi is that they are not listed by tree species, to me and i would guess many others, this would be the easiest method to find what your looking for.

I hope i have been of some help and this idea comes to fruition because i think we could all do with something like this, i know it would be of great help to me anyway with my inability to remember even the simplest of fungi:blushing:

[David Goss]

Another thought just popped into my head as i was heating my hands by my fake fire....

You could have it as 2 lists...

1st a list of trees in alphabetical order (how deep into the many species will be depending on how big you want the book) with a list of fungi that affects each specific tree.

 

2nd a list of the fungi (pictures are a must i expect) with all characteristics etc.

 

On the first tree list each fungi listed will have a link to its whereabouts in the fungi list.

 

This i think will keep it as simple as possible and you can even link each tree and fungi to the second detailed book...

 

I want one now!

[Tilia]

I'm only just getting into the fungal ID world in the past year or so, and so Maybe I'm looking at it too much as a beginner.

But what I would find really useful is a guide to the commoner fungi, their effect on the tree (rot type, agressiveness, etc) and also notes on similar fungi (so that if something is not right ID-wise we could then go and research the others that look similar - be it common ones in the same book or uncommon ones not described in the book).

Perhaps a simple key using tree species could be made (e.g. "certain colour/shape on this certain species - go to these pages")

 

But whatever you decide I think it would be an admirable thing to do, and from a newbie point of view it'd be great to get an accessible volume with the accumulated knowledge that people with a lot more experience have to offer, including personal observations.