Matt Wainhouse

• PhD Student at Cardiff University

Environmental DNA is apowerful tool which, whenused appropriately, is anefficient way to accessecological informationthat would otherwise beimpossible or costly to collect.However, evidence fromwaxcap grassland eDNAsurveys raise concern that thetechnology is being misused,and without sufficienttechnical detail to adequatelyscrutinise results, ultim...

Fungi are a highly diverse kingdom of life, but research into their role in facilitating ecological recovery and succession has not been granted the level of attention that it deserves, given the tremendous number of ecological functions fungi underpin. In this chapter, the ecological processes that fungi underpin are discussed, followed by a revie...

In England, it is nearly 20 years since the last assessment of grassland fungi sites was undertaken. Our understanding of the conservation status of these sites has improved significantly since then. One thing that hasn’t changed is the continual and existential threat from land-use change and, despite our increasing knowledge, compared to some g...

Veteran trees are iconic features of the landscape: a dendrological expression of time. We all understand how important they are, but, in practice, are we ecologists doing our part in protecting them? Here we highlight that inconsistent legal protection, difficulties in defining veteran status and the confusion created with responsibility for veter...

Decaying wood and cavities in living trees are fundamental determinants of forest biodiversity.However, a long history of forestry and land-use change has created a fragmented network ofwoodland with a depleted stock of veteran trees that support these microhabitats. Decomposition isa slow process and it may take heart-rot fungi hundreds of years t...

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Antarctica, Cladosporium arenosum from marine sediment sand. Argentina, Kosmimatamyces alatophylus (incl. Kosmimatamyces gen. nov.) from soil. Australia, Aspergillus banksianus, Aspergillus kumbius, Aspergillus luteorubrus, Aspergillus malvicolor and Asp...