Mushroom map of Perm Krai
Since 2016.
Timofei: “Like many other families, mine used to go mushroom picking to our favorite places every year. Although it was always such fun occasion, we stopped keeping up the tradition.
And what should you do when you want to relive the sensation of going to the forest and foraging for mushrooms but don’t know where to go, how to actually do it and what the best season is? How do you get at least some ‘catch’ on the first try?
Well, no need to worry! We visited Perm’s biggest online forum and read numerous posts mentioning solid good picking locations. Then we added all of them to a special Google Maps layer:
There is also an open-access form online in which everybody can share more mushrooming locations.
When we were working on the map, we realized that the main problem wasn’t where to go but rather what to do. So we offer a few life hacks in the following infographic:
In the summer of 2020, we decided to improve the map and put on it the degree of pollution of the regions of the Perm Territory and unfavorable areas for picking mushrooms. In these areas, we included landfills, animal burial grounds, and some man-made disasters, since the degree of soil pollution in these areas affects the chemical composition of fungi. After reviewing the literature on this topic, we have identified the distance to be kept when picking mushrooms around unfavorable areas:
- From major cities: 2 km.
- From highways: 300 m.
- Dumps and cattle burial grounds: 1 km.
In addition, we collected information on the load from pollutant emissions into the atmosphere and the load from waste and displayed them in color. Since mushrooms actively absorb harmful substances not only from the soil, but also from the air, these indicators are important when picking mushrooms. Load levels are color-coded depending on the increase in pollution: from green to purple.
Do you know an environmentally hazardous place? Write them in this form.
When collecting information, we used the following literature:
- Diya Vadim Archer, Mushroom Encyclopedia © V. Archer, text, 2016
- Article from A.I. Shcheglova, O.B. Tsvetnova
- Veterinary and sanitary rules for the collection, disposal and destruction of biological waste
- Scheme of technogenic load on the territory of the Perm Territory
I. S. Kopylov, L. I. Dal, 2016
Including interviews of experienced mushroom pickers and experts:
We’d like to scale the points on the map down and add areas of polluted environment as well. We’ll be happy to get ideas on how to make the process of adding picking locations automatic or hopefully meet new team members! For more info, write Timofey.