written by OLC board members Tom Zeller and Jim Nardi
Climacodon shelf fungus with hundreds of Pleasing fungus beetles (Megalodacne sp.) photographed at Atherton Island Natural Area last September.
Fungi are easy to overlook. They’re everywhere in the soil, but only when they “bloom” as a mushroom are we likely to notice them. Yet they are critical for soil formation, as they break down plant cellulose, allowing bacteria to finish the decomposition of dead plants into organic-rich soil. And, it is only fungi that can break down lignin, the molecule that most plants use for structural strength.
Moreover, 80-90 percent of all plants form a direct partnership with fungi. The plants provide fungi with the sugars that the plants have manufactured from literally thin air using solar energy, and the fungi reward the plants with scarce mineral resources such as nitrogen and phosphorus.
To achieve this inter-species trading, fungi grow tiny hair-like projections, hyphae, that snuggle in between the cells in a plant’s roots. The membranes of fungal cells are in intimate contact with the membranes of root cells, and at this interface, nutrients are exchanged.
Coral fungus
Fungi also spread thin filaments of hyphae in the soil in search of minerals that will be traded with plants. Altogether, these filaments represent the largest portion of the living biomass in soil.
Since fungi are not photosynthetic, they rely on this trading network for their food supply. To keep their partners healthy, fungi encourage the growth of certain types of bacteria that protect the plants. Fungi also actively suppress plant root diseases by attacking plant pathogens with enzymes.
After mushrooms, the yeasts used in baking and brewing beer and the mold that grows on old bread, may be the fungi we’re most familiar with. Also, the lichens we see growing on trees and fallen logs are a combination of fungi working cooperatively with photosynthetic algae.
Fungi live for centuries, perhaps millennia. One fungus in Michigan covers over 40 acres, weighs 11 tons, and is thought to be about 1,500 years old.
Chicken of the Woods fungus (Laetiporus sulphureus)