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Falklands Conservation |
Young people's Perceptions About the Falklands Environment
by Don Naylor
It seemed a good idea to attempt to find out how people who live in the Falklands feel about their environment, so towards the end of last year a beginning was made in this, helped by Years 5 and 6 in the Junior School and their teachers. Starting with members of Watch Group, who initially identified what they saw as 14 problems, fifty students were then asked to say how serious they thought each situation was. From a UK perspective, it would have been very easy to dismiss the idea that factories and pollution, for example, would be seen as serious issues in the Falklands, but the students had picked them out, so these issues were retained. For each of the 14 cases, students were asked if they saw it as:
a) a very serious problem
b) quite a serious problem
c) not a problem
d) don’t know or can’t say
Barchart 1 shows the percentages of students who thought an issue very serious or quite serious.
In terms of what was being done to address each of these problems, students were asked to consider: (a) how much they did individually (Barchart2), and (b) how much was done collectively: by themselves, their families and government (Barchart 3). Perhaps the most noticeable difference between the two barcharts is that greater extremes are shown in the case of students only: obviously they feel they do a lot about the issue of litter, but there are several other problems where they feel they can do almost nothing. At times, students themselves explained how they might be able to have an indirect influence; for example, they may be able to persuade their parents not to use the car so frequently, and so help with pollution.
Obviously a weakness here was that there was a high dependence on the students' conceptions of how much was being done: one individual's assertion that 'a great deal' was being done might, in absolute terms, be equal to another's 'something' being done. This part of the study was taken one step further, and the measures of seriousness combined with how much students felt was being done. If the students felt that there were many serious issues about which little was being done, then this might show up as them feeling powerless about how their environment is evolving.
Barchart 4 shows students' level of concern for the Islands' environment. When starting the study, it had been proposed that there might be a connection between feeling powerless and having a high degree of concern. Such a clear link did not emerge, but this final barchart is significant in itself: many young people are not happy about the state of the environment in the Falklands. It was important at this stage though, not to make this an exercise in spreading doom and gloom. Students were reminded of, or suggested themselves, positive steps being taken, worldwide and in the Falklands, to help the environment: measures such as walking or cycling to school, or being involved in even basic recycling.
There is probably a need for recognition of issues such as these to produce more than a short article in this magazine. All that has happened to this point, is that we now have some idea how most 10- and 11-year olds in the Falklands feel about the environment. Beyond this, for example, what about the unique environmental knowledge acquired by a person now retired from a lifetime in Camp or a lengthy period in an outside house? At present, a wealth of such knowledge exists, but is it in a form that can be of use to other sectors of society? We may now have a pointer to some issues within the environment which need to be addressed: are the young people's views representative of those of the population as a whole; what are the perceptions of the increasing number of tourists coming to the Islands?
 Sewage: 100% said it was a problem 40% thought it was serious |  Minefields: Seen as a serious issue about which little is done |
A strong case exists for discussion about the environment to be broadened: it does not have to be centred on a few issues and the concern of just a minority of people. We all affect the environment and, in turn, are affected by it. The next time you take the plane to Santiago, reflect that you are passing over the territory of the indigenous Mapuche people, who are presently strongly promoting this link between people and the environment. Perhaps they could teach us something, or maybe the Junior School students have already done so.
The Fungi of the Falkland Islands
by Tom and Megan Eggeling
Introduction
The mycoflora of the Falkland Islands has been poorly studied and, up until 1992, only forty-five species are mentioned in the literature or published on stamps (Jalink & Nauta, 1993; Watling, 2000). Three of these early records, Galerina glebarum, Psilocybe falklandica and Phaeomarasmius chiliotrichi, are endemic species which have not yet been found again.
Recent Collecting
In 1990, Leo Jalink and Marijke Nauta collected fungi from Saunders and Pebble Islands in the north-west of the Falkland Islands, and from around Stanley, Port Louis and Volunteer Point in East Falkland. They added at least ninety species to the Islands' List (Jalink & Nauta, 1993; Nauta, 1999). Still to be published are details of many of their collections, including a small red wax-cap with yellowish lamellae Hygrocybe aff. rosella [Fig 1].
Fig1: Hygrocybe aff. rosella
Over the last four years, the authors have made many additional collections from sites spread over the northern half of the archipelago. Local residents and visitors to the Islands have also submitted records or specimens for expert determination. Reports on some of their earlier collections have been published (Watling 2000; Richardson, 2000) but the majority still await identification.
Endemic and Introduced Species
Of those fungi already determined, many are common to North America and Europe, some are known from South America and a few comprise cold climate species.
Many species, and in particular some of the coprophilous or dung-loving fungi [Fig 2] have been introduced to the Falkland Islands with stock from these same areas. Others may have been imported with exotic trees and shrub plantings, e.g. false truffle Hydnangium carneum with eucalypts and Slippery Jack Suillus luteus with pines.
Fig2: coprophilous or dung-loving fungi
Some, like the False Chanterelle Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca [Fig 3], are probably native to the area but species endemic to the Falkland Islands are probably confined to a limited number of genera, including Marasmius, Mycena and Omphalina (Watling, 2000).
Fig3: False Chanterelle Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca
Nature and Distribution
Fungi come in different shapes, sizes and colours, and some like the brightly-coloured Orange Peel Fungus Aleuria aurantia are very distinctive [Fig 4]. Information from anyone who has seen this species would increase our knowledge about its distribution over the whole archipelago.
Fig4: Orange Peel Fungus Aleuria aurantia
Claviceps purpurea is a poisonous fungus and, in autumn, the blackish "ergots" are often clearly visible on the heads of Marram or Lyme-grass and the edible Shaggy Ink-cap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus [Fig 5] is locally common on wasteland. Another species of Coprinus has even been found in the belfry tower of Christ Church Cathedral [Fig 6]!
 Fig5: Shaggy Ink-cap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus |  Fig6: Another Coprinus in the Bell Tower |
A "rust", which appears to be ubiquitous on the leaves of the Creeping Berry-Lobelia Pratia repens [Fig 7], has yet to be identified but the aptly-named Velvet Shank Flammulina velutipes has only been found on a decaying shrub at Teal Inlet [Fig 8].
 Fig7: A "rust" on the leaves of the Creeping Berry-Lobelia Pratia repens |  Fig8: Velvet Shank Flammulina velutipes |
Number of Species Present
Higher nutrient levels around seeps and moist valley bottoms are attractive to a number of species. Dung-enriched grasslands, around settlements and along the coast, also increase the mycoflora in these areas.
However, the soils derived from the underlying Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks and from peat are generally acidic and poor in available nutrients. This lack of nutrients appears to be a limiting factor in the development of a wide range of vascular plants and of an extensive mycoflora (Jalink & Nauta, 1993). Even so, over 200 species of fungi have been listed from the Falkland Islands and many additional species collected but not yet determined.
The number of fungi that might be expected at any site is apparently related to the number of vascular plants recorded from that area (Hawksworth, 1990). If his calculation is applied to the Falkland Islands, a figure of at least 1,850 species is obtained (Watling, 2000), which suggests that there is much scope for further collecting!
Atlas and Guide
Atlases have recently been produced to record and publicise survey work carried out on the on the breeding birds and vascular plants of the Falkland Islands (Woods & Woods, 1997; Broughton & McAdam, 1999), and on the dispersion of seabirds and marine mammals in the surrounding waters (White et al, 1999). These publications have been particularly useful in highlighting those areas where information is limited or non-existent, and in stimulating additional focused survey work.
With this in mind, work has started on the preparation of a preliminary atlas and guide to some of the fungi found in the Falkland Islands. In general, a full page will be devoted to each of the species selected and the information provided will include a distribution map indicating the10km squares in which it has been recorded, together with a brief description and coloured photograph of the fungus concerned.
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Patron: HRH The Duke of York CVO ADC Member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature | BirdLife International Representative |