MISSION: FunDiS protects biodiversity through the conservation of fungi and their habitats by increasing knowledge and public awareness of their diversity and distribution, equipping and engaging community scientists, and partnering with land managers, conservationists, and scientists.

VISION: FunDiS envisions a world in which the fungal kingdom is fully documented, understood, appreciated, and protected.

Fungi make up one of life’s kingdoms – as broad a category as “animals” or “plants” – yet we’ve documented less than ten percent of species. Today, fungi are under threat like never before, from habitat loss, pollution and climate change, and species are undoubtedly going extinct faster than we can catalog and map them.

FunDiS equips community (aka citizen) and professional scientists with the tools to document the diversity and distribution of fungi and their habitats across North America. These data are critically important for land managers to protect fungi and conserved lands for the benefit of humans and ecosystems.



You can get involved with FunDiS in a few ways:

Level 1.  Document:  Create high quality observations on iNat and/or Mushroom Observer. Get started.

Level 2.  Sequence:  In addition, submit tissue for DNA sequencing and interpret results. More info.

Level 3.  Voucher:  In addition, preserve well-documented, dried specimens in curated fungaria. More info.

Level 4.  Super User:  In addition, learn DNA technology, teach others how to analyze DNA results and create phylogenies; perhaps even describe new species. More info.


READ:  A four-tiered model for crowdsourcing fungal biodiversity citizen science