Fungi a foundation of the Earth

Fungi today can be seen in various different lights, some people may view fungi as a food to eat, or perhaps as a nuisance growing in their front lawn. The documentary The Kingdom: How Fungi made our world on CBC, shows the important role that fungi plays in our world.

This documentary depicts the vast array that fungi can play in our world such as its use in medicine and making alcohol, but also displays the ferocity of the fungi consuming various organic material in its path

This documentary relates to applied plant ecology in that it shows the various different interactions that fungi has on various different other plant species, but this interaction is not just limited to plants alone there can be interaction with other animals to further the life cycle of the fungi, such as the Cordyceps fungi. Primarily the interaction of the fungi with various other plants occurs through the mycelium which secretes an enzyme that allows for the digestion of the organic material the fungi is targeting.

Notably not all fungi interactions with other plant species is negative, such a case would be the interaction with trees and mycorrhizal fungi which, functions to increase the amount of nutrients and water that the trees can uptake and in return the tree provides the fungi a food source it can readily use, this is an excellent example of a mutalistic plant symbiosis

Fun fact! the fairy rings from European folklore is a single large fungi that is arranged in a ring shape and is connected all together by the mycelium underground