Mycelium in the Web of Life

Mycelium in the Web of Life 




As an evolutionary strategy, mycelial architecture is amazing: one cell wall thick, in direct contact with myriad hostile organisms, and yet so pervasive that a single cubic inch of topsoil contains enough fungal cells to stretch more than 8 miles if placed end to end. I calculate that every footstep I take impacts more than 300 miles of mycelium. These fungal fabrics run through the top few inches of virtually all landmasses that support life, sharing the soil with legions of other organisms. If you were a tiny organism in a forest’s soil, you would be enmeshed in a carnival of activity, with mycelium constantly moving through subterranean landscapes like cellular waves, through dancing bacteria and swimming protozoa with nematodes racing like whales through a microcosmic sea of life. 
Year-round, fungi decompose and recycle plant debris, filter microbes and sediments from runoff, and restore soil. In the end, life-sustaining soil is created from debris, particularly dead wood. We are now entering a time when mycofilters of select mushroom species can be constructed to destroy toxic waste and prevent disease, such as infection from coliform or staph bacteria and protozoa and plagues caused by disease-carrying organisms. In the near future, we can orchestrate selected mushroom species to manage species successions. While mycelium nourishes plants, mushrooms themselves are nourishment for worms, insects, mammals, bacteria, and other, parasitic fungi. I believe that the occurrence and decomposition of a mushroom pre determines the nature and composition of down-stream populations in its habitat niche. 
Wherever a catastrophe creates a field of debris—whether from downed trees or an oil spill—many fungi respond with waves of mycelium. This adaptive ability reflects the deep-rooted ancestry and diversity of fungi—resulting in the evolution of a whole kingdom populated with between 1 and 2 million species. Fungi outnumber plants at a ratio of at least 6 to 1. About 10 percent of fungi are what we call mushrooms (Hawksworth 2001), and only about 10 percent of the mushroom species have been identified, meaning that our taxonomic knowledge of mushrooms is exceeded by our ignorance by at least one order of magnitude. The surprising diversity of fungi speaks to the complexity needed for a healthy environment. What has been become increasingly clear to mycologists is that protecting the health of the environment is directly related to our understanding of the roles of its complex fungal populations. Our bodies and our environs are habitats with immune systems; fungi are a common bridge between the two. 
All habitats depend directly on these fungal allies, without which the life-support system of the Earth would soon collapse. Mycelial networks hold soils together and aerate them. Fungal enzymes, acids, and antibiotics dramatically affect the condition and structure of soils (see figure 25 ). In the wake of catastrophes, fungal diversity helps restore devastated habitats. Evolutionary trends generally lead to increased bio diversity. However, due to human activities we are losing many species before we can even identify them. In effect, as we lose species, we are experiencing devolution turning back the clock on biodiversity, which is a slippery slope toward massive ecological collapse. The interconnectedness of life is an obvious truth that we ignore at our peril. 

Commentaires

Enregistrer un commentaire

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

The Mycelial Archetype

Image
The Mycelial Archetype  Nature tends to build upon its successes. The mycelial archetype can be seen throughout the universe: in the patterns of hurricanes, dark matter, and the Internet. The similarity in form to mycelium may not be merely a coincidence. Biological systems are influenced by the laws of physics, and it may be that mycelium exploits the natural momentum of matter, just like salmon take advantage of the tides. The architecture of mycelium resembles patterns predicted in string theory, and astrophysicists theorize that the most energy-conserving forms in the universe will be organized as threads of matterenergy. The arrangement of these strings resembles the architecture of mycelium. When the Internet was designed, its weblike structure maximized the pooling of data and computational power while minimizing critical points upon which the system is dependent. I believe that the structure of the Internet is simply an archetypal form, the inevitable consequence o...
Lire la suite

The Medicinal Mushroom Forest

Image
The Medicinal Mushroom Forest Forest dwellers long ago discovered the value of medicinal mushrooms for the healing  of both the body and the forest. Sadly, most of our ancestors’ empirical knowledge is  lost, but what little survives hints at a rich, albeit vulnerable, resource.  The science of  soils—mapping the matrix of plant, animal, and microbial communities in a habitat  remains in its infancy. Researchers have shown, however, that the forest is thoroughly  interlaced with fungal nets of mycorrhizal, saprophytic, parasitic, and endophytic  species. Mushrooms are forest guardians. A forest ecosystem cannot be defined  without its fungi because they govern the transition between life and death and the  building of soils, all the while fueling numerous life cycles. Primary saprophytes initiate  the decomposition process, and what the saprophytes don’t break down, the  mycorrhizal fungi do. I suspect that the overlying s...
Lire la suite

Mycorrhizal Mushrooms: Fungus and Plant Partnerships

Image
Mycorrhizal Mushrooms: Fungus and Plant Partnerships  Mycorrhizal mushrooms (myco means “mushroom”; rhizal means “related to roots”),  such as matsutake, boletus, and chanterelles, form mutually beneficial relationships  with pines and other plants. In fact, most plants from grasses to Douglas firs have  mycorrhizal partners. The mycelia of fungal species that form exterior sheaths around  the roots of partner plants are termed ectomycorrhizal. The mycorrhizal fungi that  invade the interior root cells of host plants are labeled endomycorrhizal, although  currently the preferred term for these fungi is vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM). Both plant and mycorrhizae benefit from this association. Because ectomycorrhizal  mycelium grows beyond the plant’s roots, it brings distant nutrients and moisture to  the host plant, extending the absorption zone well beyond the root structure. The  mycelium dramatically increases the plan...
Lire la suite