Dogs are better than humans at finding rare fungus and can aid fungal conservation

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-04-30 01:00

Australia; VIC; WA

Figure 1. Wildlife Detection Dog, Daisy, on the trail of Hypocreopsis amplectens - Cell Press iScience

Wildlife detection dogs outperform humans when it comes to finding endangered fungi, according to Aussie researchers, who found that specially trained dogs were able to detect a greater number of fungi, had a faster time to find their first fungi, and had fewer false negatives than human surveyors. The researchers planted specimens of Australia's rarest fungi - tea-tree fingers (Hypocreopsis amplectens), which is currently listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List - in three woodland areas where the fungi also occurs naturally, and compared human surveyors with wildlife detection dogs at finding the fungus. The team found that wildlife detection dogs can enhance the detection of rare and cryptic fungus, which may help with studying the effects of habitat loss and climate change on endangered species.

Journal/
conference: iScience

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Monash University, The University of Melbourne

Funder: Partial funding was supplied by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, as part of a collaborative program with Zoos Victoria to study the State’s overlooked flora and fauna. Major project support was provided by the Indianapolis Zoological Society, Inc.

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