Waxcaps are familiar-shaped fungi that are often brightly-coloured with a waxy or slippery-looking cap. They are found in grasslands that are generally poor in nutrients – such as old pasture, sand dunes, heathland, lawns and cemeteries – alongside other fungi, such as club and coral fungi, pinkgills and earthtongues. A “waxcap grassland” is a pasture, meadow or grassy area where these fungi are found.
Action Needed
- Safeguard our remaining grasslands from inappropriate tree planting.
- Support efforts to raise awareness of, and restore, waxcap grasslands.
- Reward farmers and land managers for improving fungi diversity on their farms.
Threats
This habitat is threatened by changing land use, which can either be intensification (using fertilisers to ‘improve’ the soil), or abandonment, where livestock grazing ceases. Inappropriately sites tree planting schemes can destroy these grasslands.
MSP Nature Champion
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