24th Nordic Mycological Congress 2019

The event is finished

A conference for scientists and others with special invites.

Third circular – update 2. september 2019

The arrangement committee is soon on Stord and tomorrow the rest will arrive.  Please find the program update here.

We are 61 participants all together.   The weather forecast is like you can expect on the western coast of Norway in September, so everybody should bring clothes for all seasons 🙂

We will upload the detailed excursions map here as soon as they are ready.  Please see the overview map until the map collection is complete.

• Excursion overview map
• Excursion 1C Lønning
• Excursion 1D Digernes – Midthaugen
• Excursion 2A Litlekarlsøy – Møkster
• Excursion 2C-A Skorpetveit
• Excursion 2C-B Skorpeneset  
• Excursion 2C-D Laukhammar 
• Excursion 2D Skuvasetråsen
• Excursion 3B Brandvik
• Excursion 3D Tindane   
• Excursion 4E Heie – Eikås 

Second circular is out.  

Early bird booking fee available till 5th of April.

We would like to invite you to the 24^th Nordic Mycological Congress – NMC XXIV–, which will take place in Sunnhordland in western Norway from September 3. through September 8. 2019. Our activities will be situated in the coastal landscape of Stord, Tysnes and Bømlo.

Next circular can be expected in March 2019.

The Congress will be arranged at the Grand Hotel, which is situated in the middle of the small town Leirvik, Stord. We will set up working stations and our exhibition at the hotel. We recommend that you bring your own microscope.

Documents

• Second circular
• Felteksursjonslokasjoner
• Field excursion locations (English translation of Felteksursjonslokasjoner will be published shortly.)
• User manual for Naturbase in English and Norwegian
  Naturbase is a public database where you can explore additonal field excursion locations in the area that might be of use for you.

Accommodation:

The room rates with full board, which includes breakfast, boxed lunch, and dinner at the Grand Hotel Stord are provided below.  We will organize the bookings, and it will later be decided if you pay upfront to us or directly to the hotel during the stay.

Grand Hotel Stord

Double room, including breakfast, boxed lunch and dinner: 1145,- NOK per day/person.

Single room, including breakfast, boxed lunch and dinner: 1395,- NOK per day/person.

Additional Accommodation Options

There are other accommodation options available in the area.

Camping cabins can be rented at Sponavik Camping. Sponavik Camping is situated 15 minutes’ walk away from the Grand Hotel Stord.

Renting private lodging through Airbnb in Leirvik is another option. If the link does not work on your computer,  just open AirBnB.com and search for “Leirvik, Stord”,  but remember Airbnb has a very broad understanding of “nearby”,  so make sure the object is within walking distance from Grand Hotel Stord.

Please note that you will have to make your own reservation, if you choose either of these two options.  You will also have to book the Congress.

Registration and Congress Fee

Early bird registration with a reduced Congress fee will be available until April 5th. 2019.

Early bird pricing is 800,- NOK.

Late fungus pricing is 1000,- NOK.

The Congress fee will be invoiced as pdf to your email address and can be paid using bank transfer or our account at PayPal.  Please make sure you pay the exact amount in NOK.  Additional information will be provided once you register for the Congress.

Please note that there might be additional charges for transportation if you participate in excursions where we are dependent on boats. We are making efforts to get financial support to cover traveling expenses. If we succeed, there will be no additional charges for these excursions.

The closing celebratory dinner of the Congress on Saturday September 7.  is included in the full board if you are staying at the hotel. Other participants that are not staying at the hotel can pay 535,- NOK to participate. You will have the option to register for the dinner when you register for the Congress.

Excursions and Habitats

The Stord-Bømlo-Tysnes island archipelago can offer a wide range of coastal/oceanic types of forests and grasslands. This is due to the very varied topography and geology, including richer/calcareous bedrocks. A wide range of these habitats can be experienced within walking distance from our hotel at Leirvik.

Many of the semi-natural grasslands in the area are still managed traditionally with sheep and cattle grazing. A number of localities are examined thoroughly as they are among our richest localities for grassland fungi. Up to 30 species on the red list have been registered at the locality at Spissøy. The list of species includes numerous species from the genera  Hygrocybe (sensu lato), Entoloma, Geoglossum and allies. The H. calypriformis, which has been used as the logo for this Congress is on the list of species found here. Additionally, there will often be open woodland where hazel coppices occur adjacent to the grasslands.

The dominant pine- and deciduous forests have not been subjected to as much scrutiny by mycologists, as the grasslands in the area have been. The western coast of Norway offers ancient oceanic/coastal pine forest types that can be 6000-8000 years old. They span from dry, moss/Calluna/Erica-dominated “bonzai” types on rocky outcrops, to tall-growth mesic-moist Vaccinum-Molinia-tall-herb dominated habitats on deeper soils. The latter habitat includes true boreonemoral rain forests with many red-listed epiphytic lichens, especially on scattered deciduous trees, including Corylus thickets.

An exotic forest type is the oceanic, mesic calcareous pine forest type, which occurs on karstic marble/limestone with holes and furrows. There is a rich presence of Hedera helix, Taxus, Ilex, and herbs such as Epipactis spp. in the field layer. The marble stripes also include calcareous hazel thickets or mixed ash-elm-lime-oak-hazel stands. In some places there is exotic, almost pure, old stands of Taxus baccata and Ilex aquifolium can be found. All these forest type on karstic marble or lime-rich mica-shists, have not been examined for fungi very much. Our ambition is also to visit  he calcareous islands such as Storsøy, Huglo, Skorpo, and Ånuglo if boat-trips are available for a reasonable cost.

There are well-developed, semi-rich oceanic oak forests with dominance of Luzula sylvatica on the large islands of Stord and Tysnes. Some of them contains Cephalanthera longifolia. There are some rare, southern/southwestern oak forest species such as Hydnellum compactum and Tricholoma acerbum to be found there. It is reasonable to expect finds of additional rare oak forest species in this area. This is a high priority Natura 2000 forest type on a western European scale. Well-developed, oceanic Alnus glutinosa forests can be found along sea-shore bays, lakes and swamps/fens as well. There are rich and poor mires/bogs included on the excursion list, including ombrotrophic- and blanket bogs. You will also be able to visit a Dryas relict alpine habitat.

How to Get to Stord

By train: The train from Oslo to Bergen takes 5 hours by day or 8 hours by night. Once you get to Bergen, there is a bus from Bergen to Stord/Leirvik. The bus ride is 80 km long and will take 2.5 hours. This includes 1 hour by ferry.

By air: There is a small airport at Stord, with one flight/departure per day from Oslo. The planes are small, so make your reservations early. There are hourly airplane departures from Oslo to Bergen. From there, you can grab the bus from Bergen to Stord/Leirvik. The bus ride is 80 km long and will take 2.5 hours. This includes 1 hour by ferry.

By car: E134 is the main road across Hardangervidda from the Oslo area to Haugesund. Connect with E39 from Haugesund to Stord. The distance from Oslo to Stord is approximately 480 km, which is about 7.5 hours of driving. This is a scenic route with year-round alpine climate and the option of stopping at Hardangerjøkulen, which is one the largest glaciers in Norway. You might want to consider setting aside an additional day to stop along the way to enjoy the sights.

An alternative route is E18 from Oslo to Hønefoss. There you would connect to National Road 7 through Gol to where the road connects to National Road 13, then to E134 towards Haugesund. This trip will take you across another part of the scenic Hardangervidda. The trip is approximately 500 km long and entails nine hours of driving and two ferries.

The Norwegian Association for Mycology and Foraging will be our hosts for the week.

The organizing committee for NMC XXIV consists of Katriina and Egil Bendiksen, Tor Erik Brandrud, Klaus Høiland, Håvard Kauserud and Anders K. Wollan, local contact person Per Fadnes and the staff at the Norwegian Association for Mycology and Foraging.

We would like to welcome you to NMC XXIV and Sunnhordland in September!