Roy Watling

Last updated

Roy Watling
Born
Roy Watling

1938 (age 84–85)
Scotland
Education MBE , PhD., DSc, FRSE, F.I.Biol., C.Biol., FLS
Occupation mycologist
Employer(s) Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Ramkhamhaeng University (Bangkok, Thailand)
AwardsPatrick Neill Medal
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Nature Award

Roy Watling MBE , PhD., DSc, FRSE, F.I.Biol., C.Biol., FLS (born 1938) is a Scottish mycologist who has made significant contributions to the study of fungi both in the identification of new species and correct taxonomic placement, as well as in fungal ecology.

Contents

Biography

Dr Watling was the Head of Mycology and Plant Pathology and Acting Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. He was a visiting professor at Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok, Thailand. He was awarded a Patrick Neill Medal and an Outstanding Contribution to Nature Award from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. [1] He is a member of the German, American, and Dutch Mycological Societies and the North American Mycological Association. Since his retirement, he has led fungal forays and education events for youth in and around Edinburgh. [2] He was president of the Botanical Society of Scotland from 1984 to 1986. [3] In 1997, Watling received the honour of Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to science. [4] In 1998, the Royal Society of Edinburgh awarded him the Neill Medal, a triennial distinction recognising outstanding work by a Scottish naturalist. [5]

While much of his work has been identifying and expanding knowledge of fungi in the tropics, Watling has also done extensive research in much of the UK and North America. He is listed as an author of over 500 fungal taxa in the nomenclatural database MycoBank. [6] An example of Watling's work in Scotland can be seen in a 1983 study detailing the fungal populations of the Hebrides; this study highlights how little is known of fungi in some isolated locations in the United Kingdom. [7] Working with R. W. G. Dennis, Watling published several papers adding to the 1,787 fungi on the Island of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. [8] The unique geographic composition of these islands and limited human influence make the Hebrides an exciting location for fungal diversity. [9] His work in the Shetland Islands, Hebrides, and northern Scotland provides insight into distribution patterns of Russula , Laccaria , Inocybe , Cortinarius , Amanita nivalis , Omphalina Alpina and Omphalina hudsoniana (as well as other taxa) about climatic and geographical variance. [10] This information was further updated in 1994 with his publication of The Fungus Flora of Shetland and in 1999 publication of The Fungus Flora of Orkney. Further research into the alpine, arctic relationship with fungi can be seen in his study of seven taxa of coprophilous fungi in the Falkland Islands. [11]

Watling has written books ranging from high specificity on topics like Boletus diversity to entry-level mycology books. He was one of the editors of the first compendium of Basidiomycota of the British Isles. [12] His work has also had broader global impacts outside of the fungi kingdom. His work focusing on chloromethane production provides evidence of the role of white-rot fungi in the tropical rainforest methane cycle. This is especially critical with the broader global warming and deforestation impacts of the tropics. [13] This research was further developed by a study published in 2005 that found that fungi are one of the largest sources of atmospheric chloromethane production. This information also suggests the more significant impact of white-rot wood decay fungi in developing a microbial soil sink for chloromethane. [14]

Watling has also worked on developmental studies of fungal fruit bodies. [15] His work has contributed to polymorphism studies with Psilocybe merdaria and dimorphism in Entoloma abortivum . [16] Watling was also the first to correctly identify and describe a parasitic relationship between Entoloma and Armillaria in their carpophoroid form. While the debate is still on the parasitic relationship of whom parasitises whom, Watling's discovery has shed light on a new relationship between fungi on an important edible mushroom. Watling has studied the genus Armillaria. A compendium was published in 1982, [17] and studies of Armillaria in Australia and the United States. [18] [19]

Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh

As head of mycology at the RBGE, he staged fungal forays at Dawyck Botanic Garden. [20] At the RBGE, he established further knowledge of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) relations to specific trees and their distributions across the UK. He contributed Scottish material to a diverse range of fungal collections in the RBGE herbarium. [21]

One of his publications focused on the Sitka Spruce, a forestry tree species introduced to Scotland, [22] as well as macrofungi in the oak woods, [23] birch woods, [24] and willows of the UK. [25] This information and his paper published in 1981 on macromycetes and development in higher plant communities illustrate the uniquely important role ECM fungi have in the UK. [26] [27]

His work has also extended to studying ECM fungi in Kashmir [28] and the Guinea-Congo. [29] While Watling is semi-retired, he is still called upon regularly for mushroom identification and leads many educational forays. He helped to identify a new species in Thailand that was recently named in honour of the Thai Queen Sirikit in 2014. [30] Fungus species named after Watling include Amanita watlingii , [31] Conocybe watlingii , [32] and Ramaria watlingii . [33]

He helped celebrate Beatrix Potter's work as a mycologist and scientific artist. [34]

The standard author abbreviation Watling is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mycology</span> Branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi

Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as toxicity or infection.

<i>Armillaria mellea</i> Species of fungus

Armillaria mellea, commonly known as honey fungus, is an edible basidiomycete fungus in the genus Armillaria. It is a plant pathogen and part of a cryptic species complex of closely related and morphologically similar species. It causes Armillaria root rot in many plant species and produces mushrooms around the base of trees it has infected. The symptoms of infection appear in the crowns of infected trees as discoloured foliage, reduced growth, dieback of the branches and death. The mushrooms are edible but some people may be intolerant to them. This species is capable of producing light via bioluminescence in its mycelium.

Edred John Henry Corner FRS was an English mycologist and botanist who occupied the posts of assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1929–1946) and Professor of Tropical Botany at the University of Cambridge (1965–1973). Corner was a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College from 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fungi of Australia</span>

The Fungi of Australia form an enormous and phenomenally diverse group, a huge range of freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats with many ecological roles, for example as saprobes, parasites and mutualistic symbionts of algae, animals and plants, and as agents of biodeterioration. Where plants produce, and animals consume, the fungi recycle, and as such they ensure the sustainability of ecosystems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mycelial cord</span>

Mycelial cords are linear aggregations of parallel-oriented hyphae. The mature cords are composed of wide, empty vessel hyphae surrounded by narrower sheathing hyphae. Cords may look similar to plant roots, and also frequently have similar functions; hence they are also called rhizomorphs. As well as growing underground or on the surface of trees and other plants, some fungi make mycelial cords which hang in the air from vegetation.

<i>Armillaria luteobubalina</i> Species of fungus in the family Physalacriaceae.

Armillaria luteobubalina, commonly known as the Australian honey fungus, is a species of mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae. Widely distributed in southern Australia, the fungus is responsible for a disease known as Armillaria root rot, a primary cause of Eucalyptus tree death and forest dieback. It is the most pathogenic and widespread of the six Armillaria species found in Australia. The fungus has also been collected in Argentina and Chile. Fruit bodies have cream- to tan-coloured caps that grow up to 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and stems that measure up to 20 cm (8 in) long by 1.5 cm (1 in) thick. The fruit bodies, which appear at the base of infected trees and other woody plants in autumn (March–April), are edible, but require cooking to remove the bitter taste. The fungus is dispersed through spores produced on gills on the underside of the caps, and also by growing vegetatively through the root systems of host trees. The ability of the fungus to spread vegetatively is facilitated by an aerating system that allows it to efficiently diffuse oxygen through rhizomorphs—rootlike structures made of dense masses of hyphae.

<i>Armillaria tabescens</i> Species of fungus

Armillaria tabescens is a species of fungus in the family Physalacriaceae. It is a plant pathogen. The mycelium of the fungus is bioluminescent.

<i>Armillaria gallica</i> Species of fungus in the family Physalacriaceae

Armillaria gallica is a species of honey mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae of the order Agaricales. The species is a common and ecologically important wood-decay fungus that can live as a saprobe, or as an opportunistic parasite in weakened tree hosts to cause root or butt rot. It is found in temperate regions of Asia, North America, and Europe. The species forms fruit bodies singly or in groups in soil or rotting wood. The fungus has been inadvertently introduced to South Africa. Armillaria gallica has had a confusing taxonomy, due in part to historical difficulties encountered in distinguishing between similar Armillaria species. The fungus received international attention in the early 1990s when an individual colony living in a Michigan forest was reported to cover an area of 15 hectares, weigh at least 9.5 tonnes, and be 1,500 years old. This individual is popularly known as the "humongous fungus", and is a tourist attraction and inspiration for an annual mushroom-themed festival in Crystal Falls. Recent studies have revised the fungus's age to 2,500 years and its size to about 400 tonnes, four times the original estimate.

Armillaria fellea is a species of mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae. This species is found in Australia.

Armillaria fumosa is a species of mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae. This species is found in Australia.

Armillaria griseomellea is a species of mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae. This species is found in South America.

Armillaria pallidula is a species of mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae. This species is found in Australia.

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<i>Austroboletus occidentalis</i> Species of fungus

Austroboletus occidentalis, commonly known as the ridge-stemmed bolete, is a species of bolete fungus found in Australia. It was described as new to science in 1986 by mycologists Roy Watling and Norma M. Gregory. The species name occidentalis is derived from the Latin occidens "west"..

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References

  1. ↑ Fyall, Jenny (2 March 2012). "Scotland honours the champions of wildlife conservation with pride". The Scotsman . Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Roy Watling - Scottish Fungi". sites.google.com.
  3. ↑ "Congratulations to Professor Roy Watling". Botanical Society of Scotland . Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "New Year Honours List". Times Higher Education. 6 January 1997. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Neill Medal". Royal Society of Edinburgh . Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Fungal Databases: Nomenclature and Species Banks (search for "Watling" in authors field)". International Mycological Association . Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Watling, Roy (1983). "Additions to the fungus flora of the Hebrides". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. Taylor & Francis Group. 44 (2): 127–138. doi:10.1080/03746608308685379.
  8. ↑ Dennis, R. W. G.; Watling, Roy (1983). "Fungi in the Inner Hebrides". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences. 83: 415–429. doi:10.1017/S0269727000013518.
  9. ↑ wildmull.com/page.aspx?Fungi
  10. ↑ Watling, Roy. "Larger arctic-alpine fungi in Scotland." Arctic and Alpine mycology II. Springer US, 1987. 17–45.
  11. ↑ Watling, Roy; Richardson, Michael J. (2010). "Coprophilous fungi of the Falkland Islands". Edinburgh Journal of Botany. 67 (3): 399–423. doi: 10.1017/S0960428610000156 .
  12. ↑ "WorldCat Identities Watling, Roy". WorldCat. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  13. ↑ Watling, Roy; Harper, David B. (1998). "Chloromethane production by wood-rotting fungi and an estimate of the global flux to the atmosphere". Mycological Research. 102 (7): 769–787. doi:10.1017/s0953756298006157.
  14. ↑ Keppler, F.; et al. (2005). "New insight into the atmospheric chloromethane budget gained using stable carbon isotope ratios" (PDF). Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 5 (9): 2403–2411. Bibcode:2005ACP.....5.2403K. doi: 10.5194/acp-5-2403-2005 .
  15. ↑ Watling, Roy (1971). "Polymorphism in Psilocybe merdaria". New Phytologist . 70 (2): 307–326. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1971.tb02530.x.
  16. ↑ Watling, R (1974). "Dimorphism in Entoloma abortivum". Bull Soc Linn Lyon, Num Spec. 43: 449–470.
  17. ↑ Watling, R.; Kile, G. A.; Gregory, Norma M. (1982). "The genus Armillaria -nomenclature, typification, the identity of Armillaria mellea and species differentiation". Transactions of the British Mycological Society . 78 (2): 271–285. doi:10.1016/S0007-1536(82)80011-9.
  18. ↑ Kile, G. A.; Watling, R. (1983). "Armillaria species from south-eastern Australia". Transactions of the British Mycological Society. 81 (1): 129–140. doi:10.1016/S0007-1536(83)80212-5.
  19. ↑ Watling, Roy, Glen A. Kile, and Harold H. Burdsall Jr. "Nomenclature, taxonomy, and identification." Armillaria root disease. USDA Forest Service, Washington DC (1991): 1-9.
  20. ↑ "Friend or foe? Unmasking fascinating fungi at Dawyck". Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh . Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  21. ↑ "Selected collections at RBGE (E)". Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh . Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  22. ↑ Alexander, Ian; Watling, Roy (1987). "Macrofungi of Sitka spruce in Scotland". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences. 93 (1–2): 107–115. doi:10.1017/S0269727000006321.
  23. ↑ Watling, Roy (2005). "The fungi of Scottish Western oakwoods". Botanical Journal of Scotland. 57 (1–2): 155–165. doi:10.1080/03746600508685094. S2CID   85219916.
  24. ↑ Watling, Roy (1984). "Macrofungi of birchwoods". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences. 85 (1–2): 129–140. doi:10.1017/S0269727000003948.
  25. ↑ Watling, Roy (1992). "Macrofungi associated with British willows". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences. 98: 135–147. doi:10.1017/S0269727000007508.
  26. ↑ Watling, 1981 Relationships between macromycetes and the development of higher plant communities D.T. Wicklow, G.C. Carroll (Eds.), The Fungal Community: its Role in the Ecosystem, Marcel Dekker, New York (1981), pp. 427–458
  27. ↑ Krivtsov, V.; Illian, V.; Liddell, K.; Garside, A.; Bezginova, T.; Salmond, R.; Thompson, J.; Griffiths, B.; Staines, H.J.; Watling, R.; Brendler, A.; Palfreyman, J.W. (2003). "Some aspects of complex interactions involving soil mesofauna: analysis of the results from a Scottish woodland". Ecological Modelling. 170 (2): 441–452. doi:10.1016/S0304-3800(03)00244-8.
  28. ↑ Watling, R.; Abraham, S. P. (1992). "Ectomycorrhizal fungi of Kashmir forests". Mycorrhiza. 2 (2): 81–87. doi:10.1007/BF00203254. S2CID   35845676.
  29. ↑ Buyck, Bart; Thoen, Daniel; Watling, Roy (1996). "Ectomycorrhizal fungi of the Guinea–Congo region". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences. 104: 313–333. doi:10.1017/S0269727000006175.
  30. ↑ Phosri, Cherdchai; Watling, Roy; Suwannasai, Nuttika; Wilson, Andrew; Martín, María P. (2014). "A New Representative of Star-Shaped Fungi: Astraeus sirindhorniae sp. nov. from Thailand". PLOS ONE . 9 (5): e71160. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...971160P. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071160 . PMC   4012956 . PMID   24806455.
  31. ↑ Kumar, A.; Bhatt, R.P.; Lakhanpal, T.N. (1990). The Amanitaceae of India (3 ed.). Dehra Dun. p. 92. ISBN   978-8121100465.
  32. ↑ Hausknecht A. (1996). "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Bolbitiaceae 3. Europäische Conocybe-Arten mit wurzelndem oder tief im Substrat eingesenktem Stiel". Österreichische Zeitschrift für Pilzkunde (in German). 5: 161–202 (see p. 193).
  33. ↑ Petersen, R.H.; Watling, R. (1989). "New or interesting Ramaria taxa from Australia". Notes from the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh. 46 (1): 141–59.
  34. ↑ "Beatrix Potter: The Mycologist". The Linnean Society. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  35. ↑ International Plant Names Index.  Watling.
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