Fungus expert Richard Robinson explains that without fungi there would be no life.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"If there were no fungi the plants would struggle to survive. And gosh knows how much dead material would be stacked up on the planet," he said.
Fungus are better recognised as mushrooms, the sometimes colourful, spongey, fruits that pop-up out of the ground only to disappear again from our sight.
Those who are familiar with them know that this brief and delightful show of nature is just a small part of this organism's beauty.
The rest of the action happens underground.
Mr Robinson, a mycologist for the last 20 years, dedicated his professional life to the kingdom of fungi.
Like plants and animals, fungi belong to a specialised world all of their own, he said.
Many fungi are microscopic and unseen to the human eye, others are larger and produce coral or bracket-like fruit bodies or mushrooms in the autumn, and a select few appear only after fire when the soil conditions are favourable for their existence.
The recent fires in Tasmania's south have become a breeding ground for fungi.
Mr Robinson said that just like plants and trees that resprout after fire, the fungi similarly responds.
He said in the first year after a fire, thousands of fruit bodies or mushrooms appear in masses, and then every year after that they decrease in numbers until they stop appearing altogether.
"Studies that I did in Western Australia suggest that about 15 per cent of fungi rely on fire for reproduction. Some of them come up from the underground organs immediate after the fire, even without rain," he said.
"After a fire the soils become alkaline. The upper soil is sterilised by the heat and becomes very powdery. These fungi are adapted to the alkaline conditions, they germinate in their thousands, and help to bind and reamalgamate the soil."
Mr Robinson said after time, as leaves drop from trees and organic material returns, the soil returns to its acidic state.
"After two or three years other fungi start to come back, and eventually after six or seven years the fungi that were there before the fire become re-established."
Millions of fungi in the environment
Mr Robinson said there are millions of species of fungi, many which are still undiscovered.
"Basically there are three types; ones that rot or decompose dead material which are called saprophytes, others which attach to the roots of trees are called mycorrhiza fungi, and a third type are parasites, that infect and kill trees."
He said the fungi that everyone sees and knows are macro fungi, and many of these have symbiotic relationships with trees.
"97 per cent of green plants have a fungus associated with their roots," Mr Robinson said.
"Trees use photosynthesis, they get energy from the sun which in turn creates sugars and nutrients for the tree, but fungi can't photosynthesis," he said.
"They break down dead, organic material, collecting nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous, which are common fertiliser elements. These nutrients are then transferred to the tree, and the tree transfers to the fungi the waters and sugars that they get from photosynthesis. One cannot exist without the other."
Mr Robinson said the body of the fungus - the hyphae - is the intricate, matted material that exists in the soil.
"It is a microscopic cobweb-like material -. It invades all the dead material in the soil and explores rotton logs and other organic litter," he said.
"The mushrooms are the fruit bodies. Like an apple tree that produces flowers and then apples, which contain seeds, these mushroom bodies are the fruit, the reproductive part of the fungus where the spores of reproduction are developed."
Culinary treats
Mr Robinson said there may be as many as 3000 species of underground fungi, which have below-ground fruit bodies.
They are also mycorrhiza fungi, existing in connection with plants and trees.
These fungus do not develop above-ground fruit bodies, and instead form truffle-like bodies in the soil, which are a food source for animals.
" Many of our native mammals dig them up and eat them, and the fungus spores are dispersed in their scats."
Some fungi can also be a food source for humans, but many species are poisonous and some can be fatal.
Mr Robinson said in eastern European countries the picking and eating of mushrooms is a culture, while in other countries such as France and Italy fungi is so popular that it is commercially harvested and farmed.
He said in Australia only a few edible mushrooms exist.
"We don't have the same big, meaty type of mushrooms, mostly we have small delicate ones," he said.
"Also in Europe they have been eating fungi for thousands of years, so discovering which ones are edible has been established through a process of trial and error."
A photographer's delight
Fungi hobby photographer Heather Elson is one of a growing number of enthusiasts, who capture the brief moment in time when the fruit bodies appear.
She said people were often surprised by the species.
"People are becoming more interested in living off the land, and in foraging. They see these things growing and think 'what is that bizarre thing?' Some fungi are not like your typical mushroom shape, you get all sorts of weird shapes and colours," she said.
"Initially people might be interested in whether they can eat them. Once they learn how they interact with plants and recycle nutrients, their world opens up to fungus and they get hooked."
Ms Elson said fungi have ephemeral qualities that heighten the intrique, and her favourite fungi is the Pixie parasol.
"I love the fact that they are here one minute and gone the next. They are very mysterious," she said.
Mr Robinson said he is most interested in a parasitic fungus called Armillaria, which is a fungal root rot.
"It forms these huge masses of mushrooms and is quite spectacular ... these things are all important in the ecology and biodiversity of the environment," he said.
"It gets rid of weak and ageing plants, infecting trees that are suppressed or old and declining in health."
He said if trees are healthy and vigorous they are resistant to the fungus which can exist on an infected tree for decades, but if the tree gets weakened, the disease takes over.
Mr Robinson said it was only when something disturbs the eco-system that the the disease takes over.
"These things are doing a positive job in the environment, but when you cause disturbance it seems to tip the environment in favour of the fungus," he said.
"When you cut down trees and leave the stumps those stumps, which stay alive for some time before they die, lose their resistance to the disease and the disease takes over. That increases the amount of armillaria at the site, which then spreads by root-to-root contact and overpowers even the healthy trees in that area. ."
Mr Robinson said many people are becoming interested in fungi, as evidenced by books on the subject and Facebook pages that exhibit photographs and information on the topic.
However, he said governments have been slow to catch on.
"They just don't seem to be too interested in these smaller organisms, even though they are very important," he said.
"There has always been lots of effort to promote fungus, but it falls on deaf ears."