What is Mycelium & Its History
Long before trees grew over the land, earth was covered by giant mushrooms. Researchers found that land plants evolved on Earth approximately 700 million years ago and land fungi by about twice as early approximately 1,300 million years ago. The largest living organism in the world today is a honey fungus measuring 2.4 miles wide in the Blue Mountains in Oregon. Fungi play an important role in energy cycling within and between ecosystems. Fungi are found in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments, and are part of a diverse community of “decomposers” that break down dead plants and animals. This entire eco system includes bacteria, tiny invertebrates, such as nematodes, and larger invertebrates, like snails, beetles and earthworms. Fungi can transform organic matter into forms that can be utilized by other decomposers, and into food for plants.
Decomposition
Fungi live wherever moisture is present. They can be found as single-celled organisms, like yeast, that are invisible to the naked eye, and as multiple-celled organisms, like mushrooms, that are made up of strands of cells called “hyphae.” Fungi make up a large proportion of the biomass in any given ecosystem.
Fungi play a very important part in the role of decomposition because they can break down tough organic materials, like cellulose and lignin, which invertebrates find difficult to digest. Fungi releases digestive enzymes that are used to metabolize complex organic compounds into soluble nutrients, such as simple sugars, nitrates and phosphates. Unlike the animals that digest food inside their bodies, fungi digest food outside of their “bodies” and then absorb the nutrients into their cells.
Nutrient Cycling Process
Plants require nutrients for growth, but nutrients are seldom freely available in soil or water because they are locked up in insoluble compounds. Plants therefore rely on decomposers to provide them with soluble nutrients that can be absorbed by roots. Example: In nitrogen, one of the most important plant nutrients, is locked into proteins that are not easily taken absorbed by plants — although some plants can do this, it is not common. Fungi will actually metabolize these proteins, and release inorganic forms of nitrogen, (nitrate) that can easily be absorbed by plant roots. In freshwater environments fungi are instrumental in the transfer of energy from riparian forest to aquatic ecosystems, by decomposing wood and leaf litter that fall into the water. In other terrestrial systems, fungi transfer energy from above the ground, to below it, where it is recycled back to plants.
Symbiosis
Many species of fungi form symbiotic relationships with plants. Mycorrhizal fungi are associated with plant roots. This relationship is mutually beneficial because fungi will facilitate the transfer of nutrients from the soil into plant roots, and in turn receive carbon from the plant. Carbon is stored by fungi in the soil and therefore is not released as carbon dioxide. It was once thought that plants were the only source of carbon for mycorrhizal fungi. However, an article published in the May 2008 issue of “Functional Ecology” reveals that mycorrhizal fungi can actively decompose organic carbon, and therefore play a greater role in carbon loss and input from soil than previously thought. For this reason and others, Mushrooms are detoxifiers when put into the human body.
Food Source
There are many animals that rely partially, or wholly, on fungi as a food source. Herbivorous mammals tend to be opportunistic fungus feeders, eating fungi if they come across it while browsing in the forest. However, for some animal’s fungi makes up a large part of their diets. Such examples are the caribou, which relies heavily on tree lichens for food during the winter when leafy foods are not available, and the long-nosed potoroo, an Australian mammal whose diet consists almost entirely of fungal fruiting bodies. Even stream invertebrates receive extra energy when they eat decaying leaves that have fungi growing on them. Banana slugs are commonly observed feeding on mushrooms and other fungi, which they appear to favor over other foods.
The main part of the fungus is the mycelia, which lives inside the substrate (wood, straw, grain, organic materials). The mushrooms that we eat are actually just a small visible part of the organism. In nature mushrooms “bloom” much like a flower does. Like flowers, mushrooms bloom during certain times of the year when the conditions are optimal. To properly explain mycelium, we have to get a little technical.
There are many animals that rely partially, or wholly, on fungi as a food source. Herbivorous mammals tend to be opportunistic fungus feeders, eating fungi if they come across it while browsing in the forest. However, for some animal’s fungi makes up a large part of their diets. Such examples are the caribou, which relies heavily on tree lichens for food during the winter when leafy foods are not available, and the long-nosed potoroo, an Australian mammal whose diet consists almost entirely of fungal fruiting bodies. Even stream invertebrates receive extra energy when they eat decaying leaves that have fungi growing on them. Banana slugs are commonly observed feeding on mushrooms and other fungi, which they appear to favor over other foods.
The main part of the fungus is the mycelia, which lives inside the substrate (wood, straw, grain, organic materials). The mushrooms that we eat are actually just a small visible part of the organism. In nature mushrooms “bloom” much like a flower does. Like flowers, mushrooms bloom during certain times of the year when the conditions are optimal. To properly explain mycelium, we have to get a little technical.
