Less than half way into the South Coast Fungi Feastival, the events keep coming and selling out fast.
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This week the Eurobodalla has the special treat and expertise of Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher as she hosts two walks through Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens.
Sapphire is an ecologist with a particular interest in the conservation of biodiversity, focusing on macrofungi and mosses.
Her PhD is in fungi conservation.
ACM managed to track down the Victorian-based ecologist, to find out what she had in store for her fungi foray.
"They can expect to see local fungi and have explained to them what the parts of the fungi are, and probably the thing that's not often covered...is actually the function of the fungi in the ecosystem," she said.
"Because you can't tell by looking if it's a recycler, or whether it's partnering with the plants or possibly it could be a mild pathogen."
Pathogens might sound alarming, but Sapphire said these types of fungi served a vital function.
"Pathogens get a bit of a bad wrap but we wouldn't have tree hollows if it wasn't for woody pathogens, and we want tree hollows so we've got to have those woody pathogens to help make them," she said.
"So what they are doing in the ecosystem and those sort of stories will come out, but it depends on the fungi that turn up on the day."
Similar to Sapphire's upcoming walk, filmmakers Stephen Axford and Cathering Marciniak led a foray in Tanja on Thursday, June 27, where several spectacular species were found and identified.
Sapphire said it was quite possible the same varieties would be found in the Eurobodalla.
"Fungi are more widespread than plants," she said.
"So there are southern Australian fungi that literally stretch from Byron Bay all the way down to Tassie and then all the way to south west WA.
"It is very weather dependent, it's usually a combination of moisture being the most important one, how cold it is and yeah how windy it's been
"If it's cold and windy there tends to be a bit less."
Sapphire said the interest in fungi has been on the increase in the past decade and she attributed this to technology.
"I think it's digital devices that take photos - in the early 2000s the change started," she said.
"Once some of the natural history apps [appeared] about 2010, that really started shifting people because not only could they take great pictures they could actually talk with the citizen science community and get names on them and then people really got excited."
She believes, such is the interest by citizen scientists, university courses and the professionals are being left behind.
"People self-learning - they can really get up to speed quite quickly with the digital advances,"
"It's kind of weird because some of my students know more because their interest in fungi goes beyond what even I get to teach them in the few courses that are around."
Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher will host walks through Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7.
Sapphire will also host a talk answering the questions 'What are fungi doing for our bushlands' on Friday, July 5 in Cobargo.
Places are limited and bookings can be made at www.fungifeastival.com.au