However, these organisms also have the capability to modify their microclimate when it is not favorable to their growth. Mushrooms play important roles in regulating microclimates.

Airconditioning

Have you ever wondered how mushrooms can spread their spores without the help of a breeze? Scientists have uncovered their remarkable secret: they create wind themselves. Through evaporation, mushrooms manipulate their microclimate, leading to an increase in air humidity and a drop in temperature. This creates a dense air zone and small wind currents around the mushroom, allowing it to distribute its spores through the air. This means that mushrooms can effectively disperse their spores even in still conditions.

The research also showed that the air temperatures around different mushrooms were 1-2°C lower than the ambient air, with the mushrooms themselves being around 4°C cooler. This reduction in temperature is due to the energy consumption required for evapotranspiration.

Rainmakers

Mushrooms have a surprising ability to create rain. They release millions of tons of fungal spores into the air, which are among the largest living particles. These spores, along with plant pieces and pollen grains, can serve as the nucleus for water condensation in clouds. When water condenses on the spore surfaces, it forms rain droplets. This means that large populations of fungi can contribute to rainfall in their ecosystems.

This creates a positive feedback loop: the growth of fungi is stimulated by rain, leading to the release of large quantities of spores that further enhance precipitation. By this mechanism, mushrooms play a crucial role in promoting rainfall in the environments they inhabit.

Mycorrhiza

Nearly 90% of plant species, including crops, have symbiotic relationships with fungal networks. These relationships give plants the power to access nutrients in the soil, making fungi critical in soil building. They release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by plant roots, reduce the risk of nutrient loss through leaching, and improve drought resilience by redistributing water to upper soil layers.

Moreover, fungal networks also play a crucial role in carbon sequestration. Ecosystems with healthy fungal networks store more carbon than those without, improving soil quality and drought tolerance, and increasing overall resilience.

Cascading impact

According to renowned mycologist and author Paul Stamets, a strain of Oyster mushrooms has the ability to clean up crude oil. In a scientific study, Stamets showed that the mushrooms were able to break down over 95% of harmful polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) into non-toxic components. Not only were the mushrooms effective in cleaning up oil spills, but they also contributed to the restoration of the surrounding environment.

Once the mushrooms began to rot, they attracted flies, leading to a chain of events where other insects and birds were drawn in, ultimately bringing in seeds to the previously polluted area. Through this process, the mushrooms played a vital role in facilitating habitat remediation and restoring the ecosystem. Stamets’ research highlights the remarkable abilities of fungi in promoting environmental sustainability.

Ecosystem restoration

Mycorrhizal fungi and mushrooms have a vital role in maintaining ecological stability and fostering growth in ecosystems. With their ability to regulate weather and their adaptive mechanisms, they serve as keystone organisms in dynamic environments. As such, they can be leveraged to restore, rejuvenate, and heal ecosystems, local climates and agricultural land. That’s why the Rewilding Academy promotes a symbiotic partnership between fungi, rewilders, and farmers.

For more information, please watch our webinar recording on fungi and rewilding.

Photo: Sasha Panarin / Scop.io

The post Fungi restoring ecosystems and climate: Rewilding from the bottom up appeared first on Rewilding Academy.

When and where

About this event

The Rewilding Community of Practice and the Rewilding Academy will host a virtual community gathering on the topic ‘Fascinating Fungi: Invisible Allies in Rewilding‘. The duration of the event will be 90 minutes.

The Rewilding Community of Practice aims to build a network of rewilding enthusiasts and professionals who can exchange ideas and information to help restore ecosystems.

Learn more about the various roles fungi play in rewilding – and how to rewild ecosystems considering fungi networks – from 3 experienced researchers who work on turning these invisible allies into a visible force for good.

We hope you will join us in our efforts to scale our collective impact and rewild our planet!

Important allies in rewilding?

Our Speakers

David Satori

Founder of Rewilding Mycology

David Satori is a mycologist, consultant, and the founder of Rewilding Mycology. He holds a MSc in Plant and Fungal Taxonomy, Diversity and Conservation and is a former Species Conservation Researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew where he contributed to IUCN Red List assessments of tropical plant species.

David has extensive experience in designing fungal surveys, generating baseline data, and recognising opportunities for fungal conservation on sites with various land use histories. He draws from his experience at Kew Gardens, where he managed large databases on plant documentation, distribution, population trends, and threats. He will introduce the field of rewilding mycology, highlight the importance of science being fungi-inclusive and discuss recent strides in the field.

Michael J. Hathaway

Professor at World Matsutake Research Group
Simon Fraser University

Michael Hathaway is a cultural anthropologist who has been working in China for over a quarter century on two major topics. His first project explored how global conservation programs were re-configured by Chinese scientists, villagers and wild animals (such as Asian elephants), and his second examines the role of fungi in reshaping economies and ecologies on a vast scale.

He will speak about a mindset shift the world urgently needs: a shift from viewing other organisms as objects of utility (as things to be eaten, commodified or even used in rewilding projects) to fellow beings that are also worldmakers. What might it mean to recognize the presence and power of fungi all around us, especially from this different perspective?, he asks.

Bethan Manley

Program Manager Global Data Science
Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN)

Bethan began studying underground fungal networks during a PhD at the University of Cambridge examining Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and their genetic interactions with crop plants. She has since continued work on the genomics of symbiotic fungi as a PostDoctoral Researcher, and worked as a Senior Computer Biologist at the Sanger Institute, UK, on the Tree of Life Project that aims to sequence all eukaryotic species on Earth.

Bethan will speak about the awe-inspiring work the team at SPUN does of mapping underground mycorrhizal networks that regulate the Earth’s climate, and the advocacy and innovation work the organization does to protect and preserve our underground fungi kingdom.

How do fungi fight climate change?

A forest’s trees, understory plants, fungi, and microorganisms are intricately intertwined, communicative, and dependent on one another. According to recent studies, mycorrhizal networks are present virtually everywhere on land, including prairies, grasslands, chaparral, and Arctic tundra. These mutually beneficial partners bind the soils of the planet into nearly seamless living networks of unimaginable scale and complexity.

We should consider fungal networks and restoring fungal biodiversity when regenerating ecosystems, because not only would they support trees but increase overall carbon sequestration and biodiversity across entire landscapes.

Further event information

Following the speakers’ presentations there will be time for questions from the audience. The event will be a participatory event taking place on Zoom. A Zoom link to join the event will be shared with all ticket holders on the day of the event.

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The post Rewilding fungi: our greatest allies in restoring the web of life appeared first on Rewilding Academy.