Fantastic Fungi Fundamentals 

     

          Following a seemingly normal climate, scientists all across Europe had made a most shocking discovery. Trees are not being given the nutrients they need from their surrounding fungi as well as they once were. But what could have caused such a drastic change in the fungi to attain such negative effects? Imperial College London, creator of this ten year-long journey, was interviewed and I quote from their website that, “tree characteristics and local air and soil quality have a large impact on mycorrhizae”. Using binomial nomenclature, Mycorrhizae of the fungi kingdom, the Latin name would be Lactarius indigo. Mycorrhizal fungi are attached to trees which undergo the symbiotic relationship through the swapping of potassium, nitrogen and phosphorous. 40,000 roots from 13,000 soil samples were taken from 137 forest sites from 30 different countries in Europe. Through these samples did scientists find evidence of a lack of nutrients that should have been obtained by the mycorrhizae fungi. This type of fungi surrounds a large group of trees, and are able to identify which trees need a specific amount of nutrients to sustain the symbiotic relationship.     

           Likewise, the fungi can not survive without the trees because they produce chlorophyll which in turn make sugars that the fungi needs to survive. After a few years there was a significant change in physical appearance in the trees; unhealthy leaves, either dead or discoloured. Without the nutrients that the tree fungus can no longer produce as well as they once did, the trees themselves are at risk of being even more vulnerable to climate change, pests and diseases. Looking again at mycorrhizae fungi, there are fibres which run underground which produce pheromone chemicals that are released into the air and through the roots via the soil when the fibres detect predators on the plant. The trees then manufacture tannin, which is a brown coloured substance made of gallic acid, which protects the tree from diseases and pests. Without a proper cycle of mycorrhizae fungi fibres and tannin, the trees will likely die due to lack of nutrients and protection. Researchers have found a significant increase in nitrogen levels in Europe, estimating that exposure to nitrogen must be cut in half to match that of North American levels. Though nitrogen is vital to the sustentation of this symbiotic relationship, in large quantities it can be quite dangerous. 

          Concerning economics, farmers in Europe are using external nitrogen-sources which are more expensive and non-organic. They can help their own pocketbooks and the environment at the same time by using the nitrogen found in manure on their farms before considering external sources. Political issues that were assessed in the ‘Nitrogen and Global Change’ conference in Edinburgh, UK, stated that some forests already have such high levels of nitrogen, so if more nitrogen gets released, the effects will be quite alarming. The International Nitrogen Initiative (INI), Global Partnership on Nutrient Management (GPNM) and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) collaborated to discuss nitrogen and how to contain it on an international level. All this nitrogen could undergo the process called ‘leakage’ due to an overabundance of nitrogen in a given area. Where there used to be an equilibrium point of oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere, this leads to a sudden increase of nitrogen in the oxygen-to-nitrogen ratio. If this plethora of nitrogen was contained, the fungus could potentially heal and grow back the way they did before. Certain types of mycorrhizae fungi can not adapt to a new type of environment, therefore tying in with societal issues. When a large group of trees become affected and disease-ridden, it is expected that they get torn down so the diseases does not spread, and possibly leading to clearcutting. You make think that since fungi are so small and may seem to be not a big problem, if action is not taken soon, expect nitrogen levels in Europe to get worse. To spread. The symbiotic relationship of man and Earth must be preserved, even if it starts with the smallest steps.