About This Project

Mushrooms are plentiful at Santa Rita, a 1,700 acre ranch in the heart of the coastal Adelaida Mountain Range in Central California. We hypothesize that fungal diversity at Santa Rita Ranch is high and includes species of potential conservation interest. Using FUNDIS framework, this project will host volunteers to contribute to open-source FUNDIS iNaturalist database. This supports the CA FUNDIS mission to establish a fungal biodiversity baseline for California conservation goals.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Santa Rita Ranch is a 1,715-acre ecological preserve within the Adelaida Mountain Range of San Luis Obispo County. It boasts a unique and diverse ecosystem defined by an ecotone where Northern and Southern California flora converge. The Ranch’s extensive mixed hardwood forests host a sizable portion of the county’s tanoak habitat, support coast live oak stands, including California bays, and abundant fungi. Due to the dense and scattered forested habitat, a substantial and diverse mycorrhizal network below the surface should exist but has not yet been described. These organisms provide the majority of nutrients to the plants, stabilize soils, sequester carbon, provide food for animals, and serve as the predominant microbial C sink for fixed photosynthate. Only one survey has been completed on the property by CA FUNDIS researchers. The Ranch represents a vital part of an understudied kingdom that is often critically overlooked in land stewardship and conservation planning.

What is the significance of this project?

Launched in November 2022, the state-funded CA FUNDIS established the essential blueprint for a fungal biodiversity baseline, directly supporting California's 30x30 conservation goals. Although FUNDIS previously visited Santa Rita Ranch, collecting initial samples for its open-source database, the organization has been forced to cease collection and evaluation activities at the Ranch due to a lack of 2025 funding. This creates an opportunity, our project will adopt the established FUNDIS framework to fill this gap and continue the essential work of sampling and documenting fungal groups, yielding high-value data that directly enriches the existing dataset found on iNaturalist. By doing so, we prevent critical gaps from forming in California’s fungal documentation and ensure the momentum of the foundational CA FUNDIS mission is not lost.

What are the goals of the project?

Our primary goal is to systematically enhance California’s fungal biodiversity record through the CA FUNDIS mission. Specifically, we will host a community-driven fungal collection event at Santa Rita Ranch during the period of December 2025 through February 2026. This event will be structured to collect and process roughly 25 fungal specimens with photographs, location data, and sequencing DNA using ATBI protocols to add high-value data to the open-source FUNDIS iNaturalist database. Additionally, the project will contribute collected specimens to an herbarium to ensure professional accessibility. This will be done by utilizing our existing organizational volunteer database consisting of local professionals, local college students, and general community members, while also adhering to the CA FUNDIS protocol, ensuring the continuation of crucial documentation that the organization can no longer support alone.