'Shrooms and other Fungi

Where would this world be without the decomposers, those life forms that dispose of all the dead things. As much as we may not like to think of it, every living thing will eventually succumb to the grim reaper.

The longest lived plants are the giant redwoods and bristlecone pines, Pennsylvania’s own box huckleberry colony which is estimated to be 8,000 years old and an aspen clone in Utah that's estimated to be 2.6 million years old. But few plants, even trees, see more than 200-450 summers, and they will all eventually succumb to old father time.

Why isn’t the world covered with dead trees, and corn stalks and fallen leaves? Thanks to the decomposers the dead things gradually disappear; thanks to the animals and insects, nematodes and bacteria, and most of all the fungi, those things disappear. Disappear really isn’t the correct term, those dead things are transformed and their molecules and atoms incorporated into other living things.

Some of this fall’s fungi, almost all decomposers –

As a result of our changing climate, this fall has been exceptionally dry with few fungi developing their fruiting bodies. So there were few mushrooms to be found, these are the best I saw in the Big Woods.

Thank you fungi, all of the estimated six million species on earth. You do good work.