Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

Here’s a curious note on slime mould research, from the London Review of books :

Trichia affinis in a Castlemaine garden: slime moulds are very mysterious life forms: not plants, not fungi, a little bit like animals. If they can find their way out of Ikea, maybe they have something to teach us?

‘The mycologist Lynne Boddy once made a scale model of Britain out of soil, placing blocks of fungus-colonised wood at the points of the major cities; the blocks were sized proportionately to the places they represented. Mycelial networks quickly grew between the blocks: the web they created reproduced the pattern of the UK’s motorways (‘You could see the M5, M4, M1, M6’). Other researchers have set slime mould loose on tiny scale-models of Tokyo with food placed at the major hubs (in a single day they reproduced the form of the subway system) and on maps of Ikea (they found the exit, more efficiently than the scientists who set the task). Slime moulds are so good at this kind of puzzle that researchers are now using them to plan urban transport networks and fire-escape routes for large buildings.’

We’re not exactly sure what to conclude from this, except that it suggests that fungi and slime moulds would be terrific subjects for research.

And adapting Ian Higgins’s assertion (see our post), we could say, ‘Nature blindness is a terrible thing!’ So, if you’re looking for some lockdown reading, here are a few suggestions:

Alison Pouliot The allure of fungi: a book of amazement, beautifully illustrated.

Alison Pouliot and Tom May: Wild mushrooming– fungi for foragers. How to tell the delicious from the deadly!

Joy Clusker and Ray Wallace: Fungi of the Bendigo region. The one to carry around our bushlands…

Sarah Lloyd: Where the slime mould creeps. This book is a real eye opener. Sarah’s talk at the FOBIF AGM a few years ago was a hit, and her Instagram photos are astonishing.

FOBIF has made a submission to DELWP on the current fire management plan. The ‘fuel reduction’ burns currently planned can be seen on the Department’s excellent interactive map here.

Our submission essentially related to the following:

–We believe burns planned for the Wewak and Helge tracks are far too big—collectively they are far and away the biggest area planned for burning for decades. See our previous posts here , here, and here.

–We have enquired as to the approach to be taken to the Columbine Creek burn, especially in relation to its past burn history. See our post here

–The burn plan envisages another attempt to burn a section of Kalimna Park burned only last year. We ask in what way this year’s attempt will be different. See our post here

–We ask how the Department’s plans for Walmer state forest allow for the presence in the zone of the rare plant Grevillea dryophylla.

We have also asked for clarification as to the relation of the planned burn program to the Fuel Breaks project which is currently under discussion for this region (see Post above). There doesn’t actually seem to be much connection between the two programs—at this stage we’re a little confused by this fact.

Forty participants logged in to last Monday’s FOBIF AGM by Zoom. They heard an inspirational talk by Ian Higgins on the disappearance of Australian native pea plants—the lost world of Mitchell’s Australia Felix—and their possible return to our landscapes. A detailed report on Ian’s talk will be posted on this site in the next week or so.

President Marie Jones reviewed the group activities for the year: a continual round of negotiations with land managers, submissions to government, and cooperation with like-minded groups. Our monthly walks program attracts good numbers. We lobbied for a full time environment officer position at the Shire, and were pleased with the outcome. We are positive about the Balak kalik manya ‘walking together’ project for Kalimna Park, and about indigenous co-management generally. Our publications have continued to sell very well, our recent guide to native peas almost selling out in few months. Our upcoming guide to bushwalks in the region is due for publication in the coming month.

Elections were held for the FOBIF committee for 2021. The following were elected unopposed:

President: Marie Jones

Vice President: Neville Cooper

Secretary: Bernard Slattery

Treasurer: Lynette Amaterstein

Committee members: Asha Bannon, Jeremy Holland, Frank Panter, Cassia Read, Bronwyn Silver

There remain two vacant positions on the committee for ordinary members.

Remember: FOBIF committee meetings are open to all members. They’re at the Continuing Education building in Templeton Street at 6 pm on the second Monday of every month except January.

We’ve seen them floating onto beaches in other parts of the world. We see them lying around in gutters…Maybe it was inevitable we’d see one flying through the air and landing in the trees: a small offshoot of virus conditions, and another cryptic comment on how our culture relates to nature?

Not so cute: Native Cherry with mask, Castlemaine.