Citizen science and fungal diversity: eight years of research in Italy
The article “A citizen science contribution to the knowledge of the fungal diversity in Italy”, by Arnold Knijn and Amalia Ferretti, both contributors to the Ndm Network, and Irja Saar of the University of Tartu, has been published in Folia Cryptogamica Estonica. It presents the results of eight years of fungal collecting in Italy, undertaken in response to a UNITE invitation to contribute specimens for DNA sequencing.
Between 2018 and 2025, Knijn and Ferretti collected 486 specimens, mainly in Rome’s urban parks and in forests and parks north of the city, and sent them to the University of Tartu, Estonia, for molecular analysis. A total of 233 species were identified: 34 considered rare, seven representing the first vouchered and phylogenetically confirmed records for Italy, and one new to science, Agaricus hortusdamarum.
The findings from urban environments are particularly noteworthy: 218 specimens representing 165 species were collected in these habitats. The study advances our knowledge of fungal diversity in environments that remain understudied and demonstrates the value of collaboration between citizens and researchers, combining field collections with molecular analysis.