Golden Oyster Mushroom: From Food Source to Invasive
The Golden Oyster Mushroom (GOM) is common in Asia, distinctive buttery yellow color, it blooms on dead or rotting trees. They are a good source of food and easy to grow as well as harvest. However, researchers report that these mushrooms may be sucking out major resources from other native mushrooms, and causing other problems in the nearby civilizations.
These particular mushrooms have become very common around towns located by the Great Lakes. It had spread to the U.S pretty fast, since growing kits and the mushrooms themselves are often sold in stores. Plus, they may have spread from people’s backyards or compost piles. “I don’t think anyone would hesitate to call it invasive,” said Aishwarya Veerabahu, a mycologist and doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an author of the study, published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology. She and her colleagues call the golden oyster “a literal and figurative bright yellow warning” in the study, adding that “as of now, there are no management strategies available to control its spread.” This shows that the growth of this fungus is slowly getting out of hand and spreading rapidly at an uncontrollable speed. Studies show that the growth rate of these mushrooms has increased wildly. While the specific percentage is unconfirmed, this fungus has clearly exploded in growth rate since last year.
In addition, these mushrooms seem to be causing damage to the ecosystem. One study done with 78 pieces of wood drilled from dead elm trees showed that tree bark with GOMs on it had a lot fewer native mushrooms able to survive on it. According to the New York Times, “Those trees that had the golden oyster tended to host about half as many other mushroom species as those that did not. In other words, the golden oyster seemed to hurt fungal biodiversity.” This proves that this invasive mushroom species will affect the growth of other mushrooms that live near a cluster of Golden Oyster Mushrooms by absorbing the vital resources they need away from them and into itself instead.
This constant spread of this mushroom species will not only affect other fungi, but it will most likely cause disruption or damage to other life in the ecosystem as well. Many animals depend on fallen or dead trees, either for shelter or food. When this mushroom takes hold of the decaying tree, the speed of the decomposition is known to be quite fast, giving the tree a small amount of time to remain on the ground. “When this fungus gets into a tree and you start to see it making a mushroom, the tree seems to have very little time to stay standing in the landscape.” Says Michelle Jusino, another study author who studied the mushroom while working with the U.S. Forest Service. This evidence clearly shows that even though we can eat this mushroom, it’s growth is getting out of hand and can cause a lot of negative consequences if not stopped soon.
To conclude, the Golden Oyster Mushroom may not seem like much when you first see it, but its growth and spread are beginning to get out of control, popping up everywhere and stealing resources for itself. It can threaten native fungi, other life in the ecosystem, and people are just overall done with consuming this mushroom so much. “Aishwarya and I have both smelled this thing too much to find it to be enticing anymore,” Dr. Jusino, a trained mushroom forager and researcher, says.
