By Shawndra Miller / CommunicationsM, Central Indiana Land Trust
This year marks a 10-year milestone for one of the land trust’s most-loved preserves, Meltzer Woods. A National Natural Landmark, the Shelby County old-growth forest was protected in 2014. It opened to the public in 2016.
Now, anyone who meanders the trails of Meltzer Woods will find that a deeper breath seems to come more easily in this leafy oasis. The grandeur of the tall trees, the lush understory, the birdsong – all bring a quiet sense of peace.
But even beyond its natural beauty, Meltzer Woods serves as living laboratory, museum, and classroom. Over the years the site has not only played host to Boy Scouts working toward their Eagle Scout designation. For dendrochronologist Justin Maxwell, the old growth forest helped further his climatology research.
The IU Bloomington geography chair uses tree rings to analyze historic climate conditions. In 2016 he received a permit to take cores from dead trees in Meltzer Woods. His study added to the body of research around Ohio Valley’s climatic history.
It also cemented the forest’s reputation as a pre-settlement example of Indiana nature. Maxwell found shagbark hickories that were nearly 400 years old.
But just because the site is old doesn’t mean there aren’t new things to encounter. Recently, a citizen scientist made a discovery in the old growth forest.
Irvington resident Kevin Young works in technology but pursues his passion for natural sciences in his off hours. Armed with a permit to collect fungi from the site, he turned a lifelong enjoyment of mushroom hunting into a new hobby.
“During the pandemic I started spending more time in parks and nature preserves,” he says. He photographed birds, butterflies, insects, and – most especially – the fruiting bodies of fungi, also known as mushrooms.
When he began uploading his observations to iNaturalist, things got interesting. What had started as a search for eye-catching shapes and colors – mushrooms he photographed for their often-otherworldly beauty – became a contribution to the field of mycology.
In 2023, he posted what he thought might be a member of the Omphalotaceae family (common gilled mushrooms and allies, Order Agaricales). The guess was quickly overruled, with an expert mycologist renaming the image as “Parachutes, Genus Collybiopsis.”
“First known record of the species,” reads the note beneath this new designation.
Kevin sent the sample to a lab to have its DNA sequenced. The lab entered the results into a database, confirming that he had collected a provisional new species as identified by DNA.
Finding species that are (or might be) new to science is not all that uncommon in the mushroom world. The field of mycology is vastly understudied. To certify that the species is indeed completely new to science, a mycologist would need to assess the finding. That might happen after many more with the same or similar DNA are found.
Headquartered in The Old Northside, the Central Indiana Land Trust stewards nature preserves throughout the central third of the state. Find out more at conservingindiana.org.
PHOTO ABOVE: Meltzer Woods is an old-growth forest which contains new discoveries as well. PHOTOS BY KYLE DOLES
