GMF September 2023 Newsletter

The mission of Great Mountain Forest is to be a leader in forest stewardship. We practice sustainable forest management, promote biodiversity and resilience to climate change, support education and research, and welcome all who love the woods.

Great Mountain Forest

September 2023

Join Us for Open Forest Day

Fungus Among Us

Fall Foliage Forecast

Join Us for Open Forest Day

GMF has a full day of activities planned for September 30 at Yale Camp, 209 Chattleton Road on the Falls Village side of GMF, reached that day through the West Gate on Canaan Mountain Road. In addition to workshops, demonstrations, and a crosscut saw competition open to all comers, there will be three lectures of interest to both forest landowners and general audiences.

· 10:00 Federal Programs for Landowners

· 11:00 Broadwing Hawk Research at GMF

· 1:30 Bird-Friendly Maple Program in Connecticut

All the events are free and open to the public; more information can be found HERE.

Fungus Among Us

The word “fungus” is simply Latin for “mushroom,” but as now used, it includes the entire organism, molds, and yeasts. The millions of known species of fungi (in keeping with the plural of Latin words that end in -us) are the primary decomposers of dead plants, animals, and animal waste, which returns nutrients to the ecosystem. (Not to be left out of linguistic appropriation, the Greek word for mushroom is “mykes,” which gives us “mycology,” the study of fungi.)

Fungus gets its own kingdom

The 18^th-century Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is known as the father of modern taxonomy for designating the three kingdoms of animal, vegetable, and mineral, which is still the starting point for the game of Twenty Questions. Fungi were included under plants until the 1960s when American ecologist Robert Whittaker recommended pulling them out to form their own kingdom. They don’t photosynthesize like plants and they don’t ingest food like animals but live inside their food source and secrete digestive enzymes outside their cell walls. Without them, ruminant animals could not digest grass, and we would also be deprived of bread, beer and wine, chocolate, soy sauce, detergent enzymes, penicillin, and natural pesticides.

“All mushrooms are magic.”

- Giuliana Furci, the founder and Chief Executive Director of the Fungi Foundation, the first nonprofit organization devoted to promoting an understanding of the importance of fungi in ecosystems

A mushroom is simply the spore-releasing fruiting body of the mycelium, the mass of fungal threads in the soil or on another substrate. Mushrooms emerge in greatest numbers a week or two after significant rainfall. In a short stretch of the Crissey Trail at GMF last month, these were just a few of the mushrooms spotted:

Fall Foliage Forecast

This year's wet summer in northwestern Connecticut has increased the anthracnose disease incidence in maples and sycamores. Caused by fungi from the genus Apiognomonia, with ten tree-specific species, these infections can result in minor spotting of leaves to dieback of twigs and branches. In cases of premature leaf drop this fall, a simple remedy is to rake the leaves away so that spores don’t get distributed back onto the tree to reinfect next year’s growth. More information can be found on the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station page HERE.

Visit our Website

Forest Notices

Welcome to the forest!

GMF is a place of peaceful co-existence for everyone

Keep your dog on a leash and if you pack it in--pack it out.

Be bear and tick aware when hiking.

Watch for inclement weather notices on social media and website.

Download the GMF recreational trail map and descriptions from our website www.greatmountainforest.org

If you have any questions, email info@greatmountainforest.org

Stand with the Trees!

Donate to Great Mountain Forest.

Your generosity makes our work possible!

GMF is critical to the environmental and economic sustainability of the region as well as an important contributor to research and education about climate change and environmental health. Help us support the forest as a vital natural resource and a place for those who love the woods.

Great Mountain Forest

860-824-8188

info@greatmountainforest.org

www.greatmountainforest.org

Connect with us