Joining the B.M.S

[alge]

Hi all, at risk of opening up old wounds (this is not my intention in any way shape or form). How would one go about joining? I have looked at the form and it states that a current member must propose you and then a seconder is required. So what would be an advisable route for Wabbers to take to make this possible?

Second question is- If one is accepted as a new member, is macroscopic info backed up with grid reference enough for submission to the database or do you have to dry samples and have them verified by a regional recorder who submits your finds on your behalf?

Sorry if this is painfully obvious for the initiated.

Alex

[SheffieldLass]

I'm surprised you've not had a reply yet.

[earthdragon64]

As a fungus novice, I'd also be interested in the reply to this. I've looked at the BMS site a couple of times and noticed that all their forays seem to be in England. Do they ever have any forays in Scotland, or is there a Scottish sub-group of the BMS?

[Michael Jordan]

Alge, I can't answer your question about joining the BMS. However I can offer you some advice on depositing records since the ABFG manages the other main UK fungus records database, CATE, which is shortly due to be available via the NBN Gateway, but which is online in any event.

Nobody other than the complete purist would expect you to deliver voucher specimens with each record, nor would a database manager want it. The result would be rooms piled high with specimens that nobody had time to deal with. The CATE database currently takes in on average 20,000 UK fungal records/month, from Caithness to Cornwall, so you can perhaps see the impracticality!

Generally speaking if it is rare or vulnerable and/or if there is a question mark on identity, which is often as much down to the lack of reference tomes on the bookshelf of an individual recorder as to any other factor, then, yes, a dried validation specimen is justifiably requested if it is to go onto an authoritative national or county biological database.

As to the amount of information provided, by way of illustration the recording software for CATE includes boxes for species name (Latin), associated organism, medium, ecosystem, grid reference, placename, altitude, VC and so on. These are all significant elements when it comes to data analysis and are used subsequently by researchers. A name and a grid ref do not really provide enough information.

I hope this helps

Michael Jordan
CEO - Association of British Fungus Groups

[flaxton]

Originally Posted by alge

Hi all, at risk of opening up old wounds (this is not my intention in any way shape or form). How would one go about joining? I have looked at the form and it states that a current member must propose you and then a seconder is required. So what would be an advisable route for Wabbers to take to make this possible?

Second question is- If one is accepted as a new member, is macroscopic info backed up with grid reference enough for submission to the database or do you have to dry samples and have them verified by a regional recorder who submits your finds on your behalf?

Sorry if this is painfully obvious for the initiated.

Alex

Alex
I joined the BMS quite some time ago so my experience might not be true today but I just sent off an application form with no proposer or seconder and was accepted.
On the recording side I downloaded the Mycorec software and recorded all my own finds. At first all I did was use books I had to make an identification but did not submit to the national database. What I have always tended to do is after making an initial identification I check in the books and the FRDBI and if the find is unusual either nationally or locally I get someone either at Kew or people I have got to know to confirm my identification. After some years I felt confident that I wasn't making too many mistakes and started to submit my finds directly.
I was unfortunate in not having a group within 25 miles so I tended to foray alone but as a general rule I would suggest joining a local group and adding your finds to their list which hopefully are submitted en mass.

Mal

[SheffieldLass]

Thanks Mal.

By the way, do you think you progressed more quickly by foraying by yourself rather than in a group? I think I do, as I'm much more focussed when I foray alone, possibly because I can pace myself, take time to properly look at the habitat etc, don't spend the time chatting about other things . And then I have to do all the work to get to an id ... well, almost all the work WAB comes in very useful when I get stuck or lazy.

Melanie

[flaxton]

Melanie
I really enjoy foraying alone but I personally feel that I learn far more when in the company of people like MWNN. Hints and tips he learnt over time from all different sources that you will never find in books unless you have them ALL. Even inexperienced people have a lot to add they sometimes remember pointers that I have forgotten which can lead to an early identification. Unless you can retain and retrieve all your knowledge a Pluteus cervinus is catalogued without examination but if someone in the group recalls that it should not be on conifer the chance of recording the first Pluteus pouzarianus in your area is lost.

Mal

[hamadryad]

Joining the BMS is easy and you don't need a reference, trust me they need members! I think if you want to be an associate member as opposed to and ordinary member it may be different.

They publish some good mags through Elselvier too, I think I paid 90 quid for a years membership and subscription to mycology research and field mycology, bargain I thought.

[alge]

Thank you all for the responses, work has got in the way so i've missed a few days online.

I will be joining both the B.M.S and ABFG as soon as funds allow. My Interest in adding to the data bases is driven not only by personal interest but also my location, it appears east kent is a tad under recorded.

I don't want to bang on about our weather too much again but due to living one of the hottest, driest and one of the most geologically varied areas of the country, coupled with being so close to the continent good records will in theory assist professionals to plot/predict the changes that will undoubtedly be occurring nationally over the next couple of decades or so.

With regard to foraying on my own, i have been lucky enough to meet an experienced local amateur who hopefully will allow me to join her in the field as it were and teach me a few disciplined techniques of recording and with luck she will help verify some of my findings. She showed me her collection of dried fungi which which was most inspirational and i cant wait to start building up a collection of my own.

Once again thanks for the good advise folks.

Best regards

Alex

[Michael Jordan]

I should sensibly avoid responding to a thread about joining the BMS! The issue of recording is, however, of direct interest because the ABFG has invested a large capital sum in developing a modern fungal data system, on the premise that 'you get what you pay for'. CATE recording was designed, not as the 'maverick' whim that some detractors have implied, but in constructive collaboration with those authorities that matter most - the National Biodiversity Network Trust, the Natural History Museum, the National Trust, and JNCC. It was developed with the support of a young and very professional IT team.

The extensive spread of recorders that now rely on CATE recording report that they find it the best biological recording system available, which it should be since this was the Association's intention and what it paid to achieve.

Hitherto, mycological recorders were limited to a number of fairly antiquated products, some mentioned on this thread, none really helping recorders to deliver currently accurate fungal data with the minimum of effort. Lack of investment in data management, not least, has been a strong contributory factor in a poor track record over the last 10 years during which 3 significant mycological conservation projects have been left wanting - the Important Fungus Areas Project (stalled), the BAP Project (an anecdotal muddle) and the Red Data Project (collapsed).

One paramount purpose of the CATE investment was to reverse this impasse. Grumblers and doubters might do worse than to examine exactly what is on the table.

Michael Jordan
CEO - ABFG