fungiwhenever

FungiWhenever is a term used in fungal ecology to describe a global, crowdsourced framework for documenting fungal fruiting events. It functions as both a concept and a platform to collect real-time or near-real-time observations of when and where fungi produce fruiting bodies, across diverse environments and taxa. The name reflects the idea that fruiting can be triggered by favorable conditions and may be recorded as events across broad geographic scales.

The platform operates as an open reporting system where participants submit sightings that typically include date, location, habitat, substrate, a brief note, and photographs. Optional metadata such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, and recent weather can accompany submissions. Submissions are reviewed by moderators or through community verification to improve accuracy, and species identifications are supported by reference materials and expert input where available. Data are released under an open license to support research, education, and citizen science, with options for data export and an application programming interface.

Uses and significance include supporting studies of fungal phenology, distribution shifts, and responses to climate variables. FungiWhenever complements herbarium records and targeted field surveys by providing timely, geographically diverse input. Limitations include reporting biases, uneven geographic coverage, and potential misidentifications in the absence of expert confirmation. The project is often linked to related platforms such as Mushroom Observer and iNaturalist, which share similar goals of documenting fungal life in real time.