Pine Ridge Park

                                                       Cap and stipe of mushroom.                Mold eating away at a mushroom               A mushroom eater.

By far the most interesting thing that I learned on the field trip was how Ectomycorrhiza fungi can form extensive networks within the soil and that nutrients can move between different plants through the fungal network. These networks might even facilitate communication between trees and in the form of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous transfers. This network can communicate that there is an approaching fire, a parasitic fungus, or even an insect infestation. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was that this sounds exactly like the world described in Avatar.

Left: Pollypore mushroom. Right: Gilled mushroom

I also did not know the extent to which mycorrhizae was pared with plants. 95% of all known plant species have a mycorrhizal association with a fungus. This illustrates the importance of fungus in an ecosystem beyond their ability to decompose biomass. Even though we may not see the fungus, it is there, protecting and feeding our plants with necessary nutrients, and without them, the ecosystem would collapse. 

One of the first species that we came across was Laetiporus conifericola (chicken of the woods). It is a plant pathogen, affecting mainly fir, spruce, and hemlock. It has a fleshy fruiting body comprised of overlapping shelves. The top of the cap is bright orange while the underside is yellow and porous.

Laetiporus conifericola. (photo from wikipedia)