Mushroom Hunt

Data sources & attribution

Last updated 2026-06-22.

Mushroom Hunt draws on several external data sources to power its features. This page explains what each source provides, how we use it, and how it is attributed.

Species reference media - GBIF

Species photos displayed in the encyclopedia and on species detail pages come from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), an international open-data network for biodiversity records.

  • We use only media published under commercial-friendly licenses: CC0, CC BY, and CC BY-SA.
  • Every photo displayed in the app is individually attributed to its photographer and original source, as required by the applicable license.
  • GBIF occurrence data also informs regional species presence in the habitat-likelihood engine.

Weather & fruiting timing - Open-Meteo

Fruiting-timing estimates are powered by weather data from Open-Meteo, a free and open weather API.

  • The app fetches recent and forecast conditions (temperature, precipitation, soil moisture) for your location.
  • These inputs feed a species-tuned fruiting score that estimates how likely conditions are for a given species right now - and shows you exactly which signals drove the score.
  • Open-Meteo data is used under its open licence; no personal data is sent to Open-Meteo beyond a coordinate.

Species encyclopedia - curated mycology guide texts

The species encyclopedia is built from curated mycology reference texts. Content is reviewed and structured by the Mushroom Hunt team before publication.

  • Encyclopedia entries cover habitat, seasonality, look-alikes, and identifying features.
  • All species information is reference material only. It is not a safety guarantee. Foraging carries real risk; toxic and edible species can look similar. Always verify an identification with multiple sources and, when in doubt, do not eat the find.

Map rendering - MapLibre

Maps in the app are rendered using MapLibre GL, an open-source mapping library. MapLibre itself does not provide tile data; map tiles are sourced separately.

Planned: Swedish habitat data

We intend to integrate two Swedish national datasets to improve habitat-likelihood scores for Swedish users:

  • SLU Skogliga grunddata - detailed forest-stand data from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
  • Naturvårdsverket NMD (Nationella Marktäckedata) - national land-cover classification from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

These datasets are not yet active. This page will be updated when they are.

A note on identification safety

Mushroom Hunt is a foraging aid, not an authority. The app provides habitat-likelihood scores and reference information to help you learn and record your finds. It does not perform automated photo-based species identification, and nothing in the app should be read as a guarantee that a mushroom is safe to eat. Misidentification of wild fungi can be fatal. Always cross-check with trusted field guides and local expertise.

Questions

For questions about data sources or attributions, contact us at [email protected].