Alberta Mycological Society

Webinar: Slime Moulds of British Columbia

Tyson Ehlers is a professional biologist and ecologist from the Slocan Valley, BC, focussed on
biodiversity, conservation, and species and ecosystems at risk. He has been a passionate student of
fungi for most of his life and works to document species diversity and protect wild mushroom habitat.
He has amassed an extensive specimen collection and contributed to scientific research, regional
inventories, and conservation status assessments. He has led numerous workshops on wild mushroom
identification and co-authored a local guidebook: Mushrooms to Look for in the Kootenays. More
recently, Tyson has turned his attention to slime moulds (Myxomycetes), which has led to the discovery
of a species new to science and collaboration on an upcoming book about these fascinating organisms in
BC.

Tyson has been a naturalist as long as he can remember, having grown up in the rural South Okanagan
Valley where he spent much of his time chasing critters. His early fascination with the natural world was
fueled by some great mentors who helped shape his career. Mushrooms ended up being the most
enduring pursuit, providing the greatest rewards in terms of adventure, income, sustenance, and
intellectual curiosity. They also taught him about patience and humility, and the diversity of life at
smaller scales. As mushrooms have gained popularity, his interests have gravitated to smaller things, the
lesser known species groups and organisms that are poorly studied.

Over the past 5 years or so, Tyson and his colleagues Ryan Durand, Pam Janszen, and Andy MacKinnon
formed the unofficial “BC Myxo Working Group”, dedicated to researching slime moulds in British
Columbia. These strange organisms are even more cryptic and smaller than many fungi and have largely
been excluded from traditional biological inventories. Slime moulds may have an unfortunate common
name, but they are elegant and intriguing and have a fascinating life cycle. They are enigmatic creatures,
neither animal nor plant nor fungus; they dance to their own rhythm amongst the myriad organisms
that weave together the fabric of life on this planet.

In this photo-rich presentation, Tyson will introduce the world of slime moulds, their anatomy, biology
and habitats, how to collect and identify them, and present some of the findings from the BC Myxo
Working Group.