[NPSBC] Ten years of the Observatory Hill survey

[Adolf Ceska]

Today is the 10-th anniversary of the day when my wife Oluna Ceska started
her macrofungi survey on Observatory Hill (Victoria, Vancouver Island,
British Columbia). After 10 years and close to 400 visits of "The Hill",
Oluna recorded close to 1,300 (1,298 to be exact) species from an area of
about 75 ha (approx. 180 acres?).  A part of those collections (earlier
collections of Cortinarius, Inocybe, Russula and some other collections)
have been DNA sequenced (several hundred of specimens) and posted in GenBank
and some were studied and published.  Observatory Hill collections of
several species have been directly cited (or referred to by their GenBank
numbers) in the original descriptions of some of the following species:
http://mushroomobserver.org/species_list/show_species_list/708
Majority of the Observatory Hill collections were donated to the UBC
herbarium where the collections have been already accessioned or are waiting
for being accessioned. Many of those collections have been already included
in the UBC Fungi Herbarium database
http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/herbarium/index.html
and  mirrored in the Consortium of the Pacific Northwest Herbaria
http://www.pnwherbaria.org/ "Virtual herbarium" has been created in Mushroom
Observer. It contains photos, microphotos, and drawings of about one third
of all our Observatory Hill specimens:
http://mushroomobserver.org/species_list/show_species_list/227
Partial results of the survey have been summarized in annual reports that
have been deposited in the GOERT web site:
http://www.goert.ca/activities/2013/05/macrofungi-observatory-hill/
This project was partially supported by the Herzberg Institute of
Astrophysics, GOERT (Garry Oak Ecosystem Restoration Team), and private
donors. Cataloguing of the collections has been supported by the Canadian
Wildlife Service. 
Our special thanks go to Dr. Paul Feldman, HIA astronomer, who initiated
this project and provided all the help we needed.

Adolf & Oluna Ceska, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

aceska at telus.net