Mushrooms | Nature Adventure

Scroll to Learn

Biology

Mushrooms are the unsung heroes of the forest ecosystem. Found all across the world, in every ecosystem imaginable, fungus is in the dirt, in the air, and sometimes even on the bodies of creatures!

This might sound scary at first, but really, most fungus is completely harmless - in fact, it's even helpful. And around 3,000 species of known mushrooms are edible!

Fungi spread by spores, which are released from the gills of mushrooms. These aren't like fish gills, they don't allow the mushroom to breathe in water, but they do maximize surface area by folding into tight layers, allowing them to pack the underside of their "cap" with thousands of spores per mushroom!

Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of the actual organism; fungal networks are hidden underground, woven into the dirt or other substance that they've landed on. They only produce mushrooms when it's time to spread their spores. Sometimes these spores are carried by the wind, but others rely on pollinators, just like a flower might! Only, the ones mushrooms tend to attract aren't as pretty as butterflies and bees. The pollinators of mushroom spores tend to be flies and other scavenger insects, since the primary job of a mushroom is to break down decaying plant and animal matter into useful nutrients. Flies tend to hang around these objects anyway, so it works out in their favor!

However, since mushrooms are so useful to the fungus, they don't usually want them to be eaten. Though there are wild mushrooms that are completely harmless to eat, most of them are poisonous to humans and other animals - and they can look almost identical to the edible ones! It's safest just to buy mushrooms from a trusted market instead of picking them yourself!

Ecological Importance

Fungus is like the MVP of the plant world; it can recycle nutrients from fallen logs and decaying bodies, cycling those vital resources back into other plants and allowing the circle of life to keep spinning. They help to turn plain dirt into a substance called humus, which is absolutely necessary for growing most types of plants that humans eat!

Fungus even acts like the plant world's version of the internet. Giant networks of threads called "mycelium" connect the root systems of plants underground. This is the true body of the mushroom; the mushroom part is just the fruit! Within this mycelium network, nutrients can be passed from plant to plant as needed; trees of the same species will help their own smaller shoots grow stronger by passing along sugars through this network. This kind of symbiosis is called "mycorrhiza", and is used by around 92% of all plant species!

These networks are also the largest living organisms in the world. In the Blue Mountains in Oregon, one fungal network of the species Armillaria ostoyae spans 2.5 square miles (about 10 square kilometers)! This is almost like the heart of the forest itself, moving nutrients around and keeping things working as intended.

Did you know?

Some species of mushrooms can glow in the dark!

Just like the firefly and anglerfish in the deep ocean, around 12 known species of mushrooms can also produce their own light! The chemical they use is oxyluciferin, which is extremely close to the compound produced by fireflies. They might use this light to attract insects at night, which spread their spores just like butterflies do with pollen.

Researches are studying how to take these compounds and make other glowing plants using gene editing. This would be helpful to combating light pollution caused by streetlamps, as the glow is much more tame, and doesn't require any electricity to run! So who knows, you might one day have a garden of glowing roses!

< Back to the meadow