Photo 1. The starting point – Pašac Bridge: Coordinating field research
(Photo by M. Randić)

THE MYCOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION “OŽUJKA” HAS INITIATED A FUNGI-MAPPING PROJECT IN RJEČINA CANYON

The International Year of Forests has seen the initiation
of a fungi-mapping project in Rječina Canyon, one of the most valuable
preserved natural oases in the immediate surroundings of the town of Rijeka.
In current spatial plans, this area is planned for protection in the category
of important landscape. It is characterised by an exceptionally diverse
array of woodland, grassland, rocky and water habitats. The purpose of
the first joint scouting of Rječina Canyon by the representatives of the
Mycological Association “Ožujka” and the Public Institution
“Priroda” was to reconnoitre habitats in which fungi would be
inventoried and mapped. This visit confirmed that the greatest differences
in habitat types could be found between the steep, canyon-like carbonate
part of the valley, stretching downstream from the bridge at Pašac, and
the mostly flysh part of the valley towards the dam in Valići. Continental
species (for example, Sessile Oak and Hornbeam) descend to low heights
above sea-level, along moist, flysh slopes and ravines, directly into
the sub-Mediterranean vegetation zone, while the evergreen Holm-oak and
other Mediterranean species are rooted in the dry and warm, rocky canyon
sides. Along the very course of the river Rječina, humid gallery forests
flourish, containing hydrophilic species, such as the Alder-tree, the
Poplar, the Willow, and the Narrowleaf Ash. Such a distribution of tree
species and woodland habitats within a fairly small area indicates the
probability of finding a wide variety of fungi, which are a vital but
little known element of the biodiversity of any woodland habitat. In several
earlier visits to this terrain, the “Ožujka” members laid out
permanent plots in the woodland habitats of Rječina Canyon in which an
inventory of fungi species will be made in the coming seasons.

This is but one of the activities linked to celebrating
the International Year of Forests in Primorsko-Goranska County. In addition
to the Mycological Association “Ožujka” and PI “Priroda”,
the Natural History Museum of Rijeka will take part in the fungi-mapping
project in Rječina Canyon, together with expert mycologists, as needed,
from other scientific institutions and associations. The project is funded
by the Town of Rijeka.

Marko Randić

Photo 2. Members of the Mycological Association “Ožujka” on
the grassy, flysh habitat Meja between Grohovo and Pašac, which is becoming
overgrown with forest vegetation – a promising fungi habitat (Photo by
M. Randić)

Photo 3. Habitat diversity in Rječina Canyon (Photo by M. Randić)