5/8 -- Fungi

For something so common in the northwest, I didn't know much about fungi or the important role it plays in ecosystems. After today's class and speaker I have a much better understanding of what fungi is and how it works. What classifies an organism as a fungi is that they must be biotrophs, produce spores, and have specific environmental needs. Their main role is as decomposers of dead organic material, although some fungi is parasitic and will sap from things still living. This is used by humans to decontaminate soil. Fungi extracts cellulose, peptin, and other nutrients from the wood materials it grows on. I learned that white rot, a type of fungi, is the best at breaking down wood. This and other types have small tendril like feeders called hyphae (mycelium) that they use for many different functions. Most of these functions take place at the tip of the hyphae and do such tasks as absorbing carbon and communication. The mushrooms we see above ground are the reproductive part of the fungi, but most of the fungi is a web of hyphae found slightly under the ground. As we observed, one fungi can produce many mushrooms, often forming in a circle which follows the pattern of the hyphae. This network survives all year long, although mushrooms are only produced for part of the year.

One species we found outside, close to the greenhouse, was the Agrocybe Praecox. It had veil tissue, which is a thin layer of skin over the spores for protection in young mushrooms. We also learned a way to enochulate mushrooms, by placing wood dowels that contain mycelium on them into the ground. Other species seen were osyter mushrooms on a log and button mushrooms, which had pink gills and veil tissue. Evidence of a veil tissue is seen by a ring on the mushroom copinus.

Posted on June 2, 2012 07:56 AM by beardendb beardendb

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