Today , I would like to share with you an interesting finding that like bacteria, many fungi are decomposers. For example, many fungi live in the soil and returns important nutrients to the soil.

Some fungi help trees and other plants to grow.  Because the fine threads that make fungal mycelium can spread over long distances, fungi can capture water and nutrients from far away and bring them back along the fine threads and close to plant roots.  The roots take up the water and nutrients that the fungi offer and in return the trees and other plants give the fungi sugars that they made during photosynthesis.

 Photosynthesis is the process where plants can make food using carbon dioxide and energy from sunlight.  Photosynthesis takes place in the green leaves of plants.  Plants take in the carbon dioxide that we breathe out.  They use energy from the sun to capture the carbon from carbon dioxide and use it to make sugars for food.  During the process oxygen is produced and released into the air.Some of the sugars made during photosynthesis are shared with the fungi that help to get water and nutrients to the plant roots!

Picture shows ? Fly Agaric?. It's latin name is Amanita muscaria. The mycelium of the Fly Agaric helps pine and birch trees to grow. You can't see the mycelium in this picture because it is hidden from view, but you can see the fruit body which has a red cap with white spots! This fungus fruit body is poisonous.

Country like Philippines is already banking on fungus Mycorrhiza to plant 1.5b trees

Fungus Mycorrhiza converts previously useless earth around it into healthy soil

To help it achieve the goal of planting 1.5 billion trees by 2016, the Philippines  government is counting an unlikely ally — a rare fungus that converts previously useless earth around it into healthy soil. This would not just help the country plant more trees, but will also wean away Filipino farmers from dependence on non-organic fertilisers.

Mycorrhiza, being a fungus, is inexpensive and can be grown anywhere .  It is also safe in comparison to chemical fertilisers that can harm the environment and humans.

It?s a silent miracle worker and, best of all, it?s organic.

The depletion of the country?s forest cover had been largely blamed for calamities such as flash floods that occur in the Philippines with increasing regularity.

hectares are unproductive, open, denuded or degraded.

 Aside from trees, mycorrhiza can even be applied on a variety of crops, including sugarcane, onions, garlic and vegetables. It?s cost-effective. The cost of adding mycorrhiza is lower than the savings from reduction in chemical fertiliser use. The yield gains add to the profits.

Mycorrhiza promotes plan growth by enhancing a plant?s uptake of water even in arid or acidic soils. At the same time, it also releases powerful enzymes into the soil that dissolve hard-to-capture nutrients such as organic nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and other ?tightly bound? soil nutrients.

According to experts, mycorrhizal fungus possesses ?symbiotic ties with plants?.

It attaches itself either on or inside the plant roots to tap into the sugars and carbohydrates present in the leaves for its sustenance. In turn, the fungal hyphae (filaments) grow out from the roots and bring water and soil nutrients back into the plant host.

Without fungi and bacteria, Earth would be buried under dead plants and animals

Sources :

 http://gulfnews.com/news/world/philippines/philippines-banks-on-fungus-to-plant-1-5b-trees-1.1226138

http://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/mycokids/some-fungi-help-our-planet/