Distribution des champignons forestiers comestibles en Gaspésie

Link between research and the development
of mycological resources in Québec
Marie-France Gévry, M.Sc.
Laval University, Québec
Colloque sur les champignons et autres PFNL : innovations et perspectives
August 27-28, 2014
Presentation outline
Economical importance of Edible
Forest mushroom (EFM)
The mycorrhizal relationship and State of
knowledge in Quebec
Research and developpement of the
resource in Quebec
Challenges and Perspectives
Economical importance of Edible
Forest mushroom (EFM)
- The emergence of a lucrative global market - 2,5 G$ Worldwide
- 60-70 M$ for Canada : 90% from BC, the rest from Eastern
provinces and Saskatchewan
- Annual harvests increasing as a consequence of a high
demand on international markets for « Terroir » products :
- In Canada : 1,1 M of tons in 1979 to 3,29 M of tons in 2005
- In Quebec : about 50 tons in 2014 (an increased of 1 000% for
the last 5 yrs).  An economic potential of 50-100 M$ CA/yr.
 An opportunity for rural development and
diversification of the forest resource (plus-value)
Economical importance of Edible
Forest mushroom (EFM)
Three modes of development of EFM:
- Commercial harvests (international markets)
- Recreative picking (local selling and consumption)
- Mycotourism (create regional benefits by attracting tourist)
Ex. : Spain (Castilla y leon)
-
Annual benefits : 65 M €
-
40% from commercial harvest and EFM
transformation, 39% from mycotourism,
21% from recreative picking.
-
36 entreprises of transformation
(source : Micodata, Gouvernement de la Castilla y León 2014).
3 main species harvested in Canada
Morels
Chanterelle
Matsutake
In Quebec : Macrofungi-diversity is estimated > 3 000 sp.,
including a great variety of valuable EFM (ceps, milky-cap, etc.)
The mycorrhizal relationship
The great majority of high-value species of EFM are symbiotic.
 They need a host to grow and has to be harvested in forests.
Mushroom =
pomp
+ Water
+ Nutrients
Sugars and
photosynthats
(carbohydrates)
A renewable resource, with a great complexity
Photo : J.-A. Fortin
State of knowledge in Quebec
• First researches on the field has been conducted between
1989-1993 to investigate the effect of ecological factors
on the ectomycorrhizal mushroom distribution
(Nantel & Neumann, Villeneuve).
• First inventories targeting EFM were conducted in Abitibi
by Miron (1994-1995), and in Gaspe Peninsula (Guérette, 2001).
• 2005-2010 : three researches launched in Abitibi, LacSaint-Jean and Gaspe peninsula area to investigate
elements of the ecology of EFM (Rochon, Maneli, Gévry).
 Those studies showed the importance of forest cover
(Host Trees) in the distribution of EFM and their
sensibility to other ecological factors :
 Stand structure (age, density, schrubs and ericaceous cover,
mosses and lichen cover),;
 Edaphic conditions (pH, drainage, thickness and litter quality,
surface deposit composition, etc.);
 Topography (orientation, slope, etc.).
State of knowledge in Quebec
• Lots of surveys conducted in many regions, over 1-2 yrs,
has permit to establish a list of species of interest.
• Education of the population contribute to increase
local consumption and to create a pool of “pickers”
• Some mycotourism experiments have showed the
economical importance of this high-value activity for
rural areas.
From a forest manager and a political
perspective
In its Sustainable forest management Report (2010), the « Chief
Forester of Quebec » mentionned the lack of knowledge to
establish the economical potential of NTFPs.
No quantitative data available for forest managers
Without a controlled management of commercial harvests :
a loss for the governement and a risk of overexploitation
of the resource.
 Therefore, the estimation of the biological and
economical potential is needed to achieve strategic and
sustainable management of the sector.
Research and Developement
of the Resource in Quebec
1. How can we achieve to integrate EFM in
forest planning ?
2. How can we optimize EFM harvest in
natural environment ?
3. How can we create value from EFM ?
Research and Developement of the
Resource
How can we achieve to integrate EFM in forest planning ?
1) Model mean annual EFM productivity (kg/ha) among forest
stand type for assessing the economic potential generated
by the development of EFM of high commercial value
 Which spatiotemporal data set should be included in the
model? What is the relative contribution (%) of each set to the
precision of the model?
-
Field data
-
Ecoforest, deposit, hydrological , climatic maps, etc.
-
Satellite data
 A 3-5 years effort, stratified by bioclimatic area
Research and Developement of the
Resource
How can we achieve to integrate EFM in forest planning ?
-
Can the EFM development be complementary to the timber
exploitation?
We think so because …
- Surveys showed that high-productive forest stands were young
- EFM harvest can generate benefits during more than > 10 yrs
Research and Developement of the
Resource
How can we optimize EFM harvest in natural environment ?
2.1) Enhancing productivity of forest stand by a
Mycosylvicultural approach
 How can we create optimal conditions for EFM fruiting?
Ex. : Creating canopy opening, maintaining host-tree
diversity, managing to target a particular stand
structure (age), pruning trees to enhance carbon
allocation to their roots (feed the mycelium), emulating
perturbations favorable to EFM productivity
 As every species has its niche : a “myco-specific” approach
Research and Developement of the
Resource
How can we optimize EFM harvest in natural environment ?
2.2) Modeling fruiting emergence to diminish field trips and
harvest loss, and optimize the benefits of the pickers.
Productivity maps can be produced using ecological factors, but
annual production of fructification is link to climatic variation.
Every species fructification response to a specific climatic
sequence that has to be elucidated.
Ex. : precipitations (mm), nb of major precipitation events, nb
day of warm temp, soil temperature, “cold-shock”, …
 A long-term initiative (>10 yrs) that should imply the
amateur contribution.
Research investigations should
begin by the cep:
- Highly productive in managed
plantations (White & Norway
spruce)
- Highly sensitive to « cold-shock »
Micodata : a webmap of EFM
production in Castilla y Leon
Research and Developement of the
Resource
How can we create value from EFM?
3) Using a value chain approach to optimize
socio-economic benefits of the development
of the resource.
 Identify the actors, issues and constraints
related to the activities of EFM sector;
 Document the chain of value creation
(from local to international market).
 Target opportunities of development
Challenges and Perspectives
Ultimately, the contribution of research should allow forest
managers to integrate the EFM resource in strategic and
tactical forest planning at national or regional scale, to
strengthen to harvest operations, to target business
opportunities and guide the social and regional
development of the EFM sector in Quebec.
Challenges :
lack of funding for research in this new field,
especially for long-term monitoring
Strenghts : The increasing demand from forest owners to
diversify their forests products (bottom-up) and the international
demand for “bio” and “terroir” products from Quebec and
Canada (top-down) will certainly help to bring consideration from
policy makers for NTFPs and EFM.
Contact : Marie-France.Gevry@sbf.ulaval.ca