UW's Relationship With Fungi

           The University of Washington has a diverse assortment of fungi.  Not only because our campus is located in the Pacific Northwest, a veritable fungal hub, but because of the wood chips brought in from all over the nation...and the rest of the world. Generally speaking the fungi of the UW campus decompose, just as they do everywhere else in the world, but we give them unique habitat to achieve their goals that would not be seen elsewhere in the natural environment.

           The wood chips and exotic plants that are brought to our campus can and do carry fungal spores with them.  The long term effects could include the introduction of species that perform exceedingly well in our environment, going from being exotic to invasive.  The possibility of this occurring is there, but there is no means of knowing exactly what is being brought here, and how the fungi will react to our ecosystem.

           In addition, the UW campus has landscape features that are not seen in nature. These include open grass fields (unusual in this region), wood chip/bark beds, and manicured areas (including lawns that are mowed and gardens that are/have been anthropogenically altered).  These areas allow for new types of fungi to become major players in the overall ecosystem through the exploitation of new environments.