The Burgundy truffle in Switzerland and Germany is under threat

The truffle harvest is declining in Switzerland and southern Germany. This is shown by a monitoring program run by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL. The increase in extremely hot and dry summers is the best explanation for this decline. The problem is not only culinary, but also ecological (photo illustration Agri). Since 2011, the WSL has been running a monitoring program for the Burgundy truffle, a common and valued edible fungus in Europe. Volunteers and scientists with truffle dogs harvest the fruiting bodies every three weeks on control plots in Switzerland and southern Germany. They weigh them, measure them, describe them and send a fragment to the WSL for genetic analysis. Tree growth and climate data are also recorded on the site. Using statistical models, ecologist Brian Steidinger from the University of Konstanz and WSL analyzed all this information by combining it with climate data. He thus observed a marked decrease in the ...