Expedition Martinique 2025

It was with great enthusiasm that Ayla Mongès and I took on the challenge of sampling soils and epiphytes across the diverse habitats of Martinique - an island not bigger than 1 128 km², a known biodiversity hot spot, with an almost unknown fungal diversity.

Thanks to an Underground explorer grant and additional funding from the Royal Physiographic Society, we were able to travel to Martinique (Aylas childhood home) in the end of November 2025. For two weeks, we traveled on small winding roads across the island, from the sandy beaches to the steep muddy slopes of the rainforest, and hiked to the highest peak of the volcano (well, Ayla did!).

Following the SPUN protocol for soil sampling, and with the help of volunteers from the local canyoning club and family, we were able to collect samples from four different types of habitats: rainforest, dry forest, beach, and anthropogenically impacted lands. We also collected roots from epiphytes in several of the locations to be able to compare epiphytic and soil-dwelling fungal communities.

Already in the forest, we saw a rich diversity of fungal fruiting bodies (see pictures below), and we are currently processing samples to extract DNA, and are very excited to see what community sequencing will tell us. Will the results match the high diversity and endemism predicted by the SPUN underground atlas? Which type of habitat will host the most diverse fungal communities? Will it be the same mycorrhizal fungi up in the trees as down in the ground? Hopefully, we will find out more later this year!