The Power of Fungi

While it is interesting to imagine the world without humans, I want to take a moment to image the world without fungi. This would be a world where humans would not want to live. Plants would die because of their inability to take up proper water and nutrients from the soil without mycorrhizal fungi. The animals that eat those plants would die, and the predatory animals that eat those animals would die. Ultimately, we would be left with piles and piles of dead plants and animals that would never decay. We would be buried up to our ears. Fungi are incredible decomposers; there are very few substrates that hyphae cannot penetrate (fungi are known to decompose even rocks). We are lucky that fungi retain this amazing ability and keep our lives clutter free.

 

Imagine once again that humans have mysteriously vanished from the earth. This is a world where fungi would reign, decomposing all of what we left behind. Basically, fungi in a world without us would have a field day. The antifungal treatments we use when building will eventually succumb to the power of mold. See this passage from Weisman...

"As gravity increases tension on the trusses, the ¼ inch pins securing their now-rusting connector plates pull free from the wet wood, which now sports a fuzzy coating of greenish mold...the same thing is happening to the floors inside...as the wood continues to rot, trusses start to collapse against each other...eventually the walls lean to one side, and finally the roof falls in.”

All the precautions we take to stop fungus from decaying all of our possessions would seize to work.  Since spores are mere microns in size, they have no trouble finding a way into the smallest of crevices. It only takes one teeny tiny spore (we probably inhale hundreds of them which each breath) to start a rampant fungal colony. As Weisman states...

"No matter how hermetically you’ve sealed your temperature –tuned interior from the weather, invisible spores penetrate anyway, exploding in sudden outbursts of mold- awful when you see it, worse when you don’t, because its hidden behind a painted wall, munching paper sandwiches of gypsum board, rotting studs and floor joints.”

It is estimated that there are in excess of 13 million species of fungi in the world, each of which plays an equally important role in allowing us to live our lives. It is unusual that someone places value in fungi, but lets not forget that penicillin saves millions of lives each year. We would also be without three highly valued food products including bread, cheese, and wine. This is just a small review of the many, many luxuries that fungi provide us with. A world without fungi is a place that I would not want to live.