We know as a species, less about our own oceans than we do space; and even less about soil than we do the oceans - Those are great words by forester Peter Wohlleben. In just a handful of ancient forest soil there is more than 50 billion lifeforms; so considering there is around 144,000 species of fungi discovered so far I think is a dip in a huge pond left to ponder (if you parden the pun). This amount of lifeform is only made possible through symbiosis and the huge underground network which connects a forest or a woodland. More specifically what forms this is the threads known as hyphae which are the thread like elements that seek air for new pockets of growth in the soil (& as with there size; the mycelia can grow quite rapidly through the soil) which can each grow up to several metres in length, eventually looking like a root system (somewhat like an upside down tree) known as rhizomorphs; although tangible I don't think you'll be tying shoelaces with them anytime soon! Anyway, so the fruit of the fungi would then be the mushroom. All of this however, apart from the latter is blind to the human eye even under the close observation of a microscope & the reason personally for me which I think much like fish too, fungi are not a subject of wide scale interest and why there humongous world has gone so untouched academically; and like the opening line of this writing reiterates, probably is a big reason why we know so little; which is quite alarming giving the profound effects we are having on disrupting the biodiversity of how dependant we are as a species; afterall fungi brought algae from the oceans and subsequently developed trees & plants, it is essentially us, we are closer to fungi dna than we are plants; we breathe it; it is in our gut to break down food, without fungi, it is safe to say the entire ecosystem would collapse; one thing for sure however is these incredible organisms will long live after the human species is history; but for us to prolong our existence, we have to be dependent; just like trees are meaning we have a responsibility too. How do we do this? We need to re-flourish our forests & allow nature to grow without interference. Soils reach an equilibrium content of carbon therefore more space is required in order to increase sequestering. One solution would be reduce or stop animal farming & in doing so would free up to 75% of land, this is space after required space for plant based agriculture. More importantly though, there would eradicate the killing of sentient animals. Another solution is to use natural fertilisers which is far more beneficial to the ground and to plant life; & subsequently, our life.
Because I enjoy reading about fungi, I will keep this short & instead write more posts more about a specific area of fungi.
So what is Fungi?
So we know that the plural of fungus is fungi; a fungus is the mushroom (fruit of); whereas fungi is say the network so the mycelia. After officially gaining there own freedom away from actually being known as a plant some 50 years or so ago; plants afterall are capable of creating there own food through there leaves & carbon dioxide; fungi cannot, just like animals. They are actually closer related to insects than the former. Chitin is the answer which distinguishes there difference. This polysaccharide that makes up the cell walls of Fungi is also evident in insects; with cellulose making up what forms plants. Another key relation to animals is that they do most of there food consumption outside of there cells by secreting enzymes to help break down food and absorb into there cells. However, unlike animals they cannot move in the same way. Instead they grow into new food sources or by the passive dispersal of nonmotile spores. And I actually think just as I mentioned in the same way fish are overlooked to land animals in terms of say there ability to feel pain & love but also there cognitive abilities to communicate. I am going to apply this same logic to trees and fungi in the way say humans and non human animals are related in that they share similar characteristics, and more importantly, move. I genuinely think the most general misconception is that trees, plants & fungi are not real, by that I mean don't move in the same way an animal does, nor do they share similar physical structures or communicate in the same way, and so are not considered similar; like I don't know alive in the same way; personally I think it is quite a stubborn way to look at identifying life. I guess all these things make up a personality; we struggle to find that in something living beneath us, in a macro world where we don't pay attention or even above ground in a tree; but arguably you could say the life of the tree happens again in the network beneath; afterall this is what supports it's structure, it's growth, it's food, it's ability to repair, (see book). The truth is, like fungi, they breath, communicate, pro-create, move, & ultimately do what is instinctively necessary to ensure they prolong there life. But I'm not going to get into this too much here, I'll save it for another post.
How does Fungi breathe?
Well this again completely depends on the type; three large groups are mushrooms, yeasts & moulds. Yeast is characterised as single cell with moulds and mushrooms multicellular organisms. We looked before that fungi is distinguished by chitin; so they are fed through absorption; therefore the respiration works similarly. This is done aerobically (oxygen) & anaerobically (no oxygen); which yeast are capable of both; whereas moulds and mushrooms the former. So respiration is achieved through tiny pores contained within the soil. Hayphe is key; the tiny web like structures are capable of seeking air pockets available; containing everything they need for absorption including oxygen; exchanging gases with the soil instead of the upper atmosphere outside; which is of course important to both the soil and fungi sharing minerals, water, roots and organisms. Applying this to other growths such as Mushrooms, they exchange gases with the atmosphere just as plants do. Trees work in tandem with fungi exchanging key nutrients in exchange for a third of trees' glucose from photosynthesis; this relationship in particular is so eye opening for me and I will cover this in probably the next post.
How does Fungi move?
So we've looked briefly what fungi is & how it breathes. Fungi does not really physically in terms of the fruit or the mycelia. However, like reproduction & plants, which move through seed dispersal, fungi acts in almost the same way similar way a plant does; except it's through spores which are carried by the wind or water. In terms of actual movement, this is done through hyphae tips; once these tips spread and become a branched mycelium. The tips that then come from from neighbouring hyphae will often fuse with them to become a hyphal net. As long as conditions remain favourable, hyphal tips will continue to grow & give possibility to the individual fungus being potentially immortal helped by there ability to remain dormant. The network is so deep a handful of soil contains 30,000 sqm of mycelia, & because it is thousands of years old, particularly in undisturbed ancient woodland, once older parts of the hyphae die, they decompose & release nitrogen & vital nutrients back into the soil.
How does Fungi Reproduce?
Fungi reproduces in the almost the same way a plant does; dispersion; however this is done underground & or above with plants more specifically through seed dispersal; which is transported by wind. Fungi is rather different in terms of forming & releasing spores, after a stage of intense growth. This can be done either asexually or sexually. Spores are usually single cells within the mycelium produced by fragmentation; this is known as asexual whereby the organism does not require genetic contribution from another organism but instead by cell division, fission, or budding. Sexual reproduction is quite different from animals & plants, that in the nuclear membrane remains intact. But I don't know much about this, I don't understand it and I'm not really scientific, so I want to really understand this in a way I can use less college words and make it understandable at least for my sake, & I hope you find it helpful too...
Fungi as a recycler
Fungi is vital to it's ecosystem. It's connections are so close to trees, it's said they have chosen relationships with certain species or even single trees. In this relationship fungi help provide water & nutrients through breaking down matter such as wood/leaves & other dead matter to there partners in return for sugars developed by trees as they photosynthesise. This is a key bonding as fungi as we know, unlike plants (chlorphyll), are incapable of creating there own food so it relies on teamwork; though at a price, requesting upto a third of a trees' sugars. This however gives lifegiving releases nutrients for the trees; & support the next growth of plants. Fungi typically acquires it's food through absorption, releasing digestive enzymes into the soil. As a recycler, without fungi we would see a build up of all sorts of forest matter, which is recycled back into the forest through fungi. Chlorphyll levels are much higher when nitrogen is present; and that means more photosynthesis; with less nitrogen, we would see less growth in trees, not only in the vegetative phase but also fruit & flowers; which would be detrimental to fungi. One last thing on Fungi as a recycler. I listened to Louie Schwartzberg say Fungi is capable of even breaking down plastics. This would be huge, but I will cover this more in depth, but Louie is a film maker who has recorded mushrooms / fungi continuously for 40 years!
Fungi as a human consumable?
We are beginning to understand more how fantastic fungi is & how adaptable it can be to our everyday lives. We rare unravelling the wonderous of it's potential disposal to us & how it could serve as a more prominent reliance for future generations. We are definitely going to rely on it. I mean we are seeing a humongous growth in our dependence on technology which is not a great outlook considering sustainability; however the positive is when we work this with fungi, we are seeing fungi now used more as furniture, clothing (notably leather), synthetic & petroleum based products, medicine, & bio-fertilisers to name a few. The impacts of this are huge; for example the leather trade. Leather is not a bi-product of a cow's flesh, cows are being bred solely for this industry alone. How do we act to put a stop to this? Boycott these industries. Power is our consumer choices. If you're quite reluctant to stare these industries in the face, then this is our voice.
So, to summerise, I have tried to cover briefly what fungi is, how it moves, how it breathes, how it reproduces, how it recycles, & our growing dependency on it; which I think is a good intro for me. I find this fascinating, & I can't wait to delve into the next one; I will cover all these in individual posts but the next one will be fungi's relationship with trees.
One last thing is go check out this cool stuff below!!
Sustainable World Radio Podcast︱https://sustainableworldradio.com/
Fantastic Fungi - Louie Schwartzberg︱https://fantasticfungi.com/
Healing Earth - John Todd︱ https://www.toddecological.com/
Photographer - Steve Axford︱https://steveaxford.smugmug.com/
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