what is the purpose of mushrooms in ecology? evolution?

Question

whenever i walk in forests and look at mushroom formations, they fascinate me. there are so very many of them, thousands not categorized even to this day. i would like you to tell me all you know about these interesting plants. so many are poisonous to humans, but would they then be poisonous to other creatures? anything you can tell me about their age in the evolution of our plantlife, when they were originally noted, what has been said of them as they relate to the chain of life will help me understand more.

Answer 1

To better understand the purpose of mushrooms in ecology a quick perusal of this article entitled "Fungal ecology" in Science and Technology Encyclopedia McGraw Hill Professional should enlighten very quickly. Here's a brief quote:

"Fungi interact with all organisms in ecosystems, directly or indirectly, and are key components in ecosystem processes. As decomposers, fungi are crucial in the process of nutrient cycling, including carbon cycling as well as the mineralization or immobilization of other elemental constituents. As parasites, pathogens, predators, mutualists, or food sources, fungi can directly influence the species composition and population dynamics of other organisms with which they coexist. Fungi may act both as agents of successional change or as factors contributing to resilience and stability. Mycorrhizal fungi function as an interface between plant and soil, and are essential to the survival of most plants in natural habitats."

As for mushrooms role in evolution I will still need to do more research on that and get back to you here shortly hopefully.

Edit#1: This is interesting, quote: "Fungi contribute to the disintegration of organic matter resulting in the release of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus from dead plants and animals into the soil or the atmosphere." From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Still working on the evolution portion of the question...

Edit#2: There doesn't appear to be anything on the net about mushroom evolution that I can locate for you. Suffice to say mushrooms do not fossilize very well. Speculation leads me to believe the environment presented a niche for an organism to exploit that was not occupied and mushrooms slipped into that niche. One where chlorophll was not needed, a cellulose material could be consumed, and its reproductive strategies employed.

Answer 2

Mushrooms are not plants. Mushrooms are FUNGI. True plants have roots, stems and leaves. Mushrooms do not have true roots, stems, and leaves. Plants are photosynthetic, which means they make their own food from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight. Mushrooms do not make their own food, they absorb their nutrients from dead organic matter. Mushrooms are decomposers. They break down organic matter. This is why you find them growning on trees and dead logs and in mulchy places.

A good rule to follow is "all mushrooms are poisonous" [even though some of them aren't] because, if you eat a mushroom that IS poisonous it can make you very, very ill, and sometimes can even kill you.

It is best to leave the identification of mushrooms to the experts as some poisonous mushrooms look an awful lot like some that are not poisonous.

Decomposers are at the end of all food chains. They return the unused organic matter back into the environment. If we didn't have decomposers (bacteria are also decomposers), then we would soon run out of raw materials (not to mention that we would be up to our necks in dead things).

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Mushrooms are a fungi. They are part of the decompose rs in the chain of life. Without decompose rs we would have to many living things that were alive just hang around. Most mushrooms decompose woody plants. Example when you remove a tree in your front yard months later you see mushroom come up they are decomposing the little pieces of wood from the tree. Many animals that can eats mushroom will have a immune system that won't effect times.were as the human system can become sick and die. Some mushrooms are edible and good for are systems. I hope this help you.

Answer 4

What does gravity supply a guy or woman? it extremely is a phenomenon that shapes what we are, only like evolution. Morality is a formalized social settlement. in many species, there's a balancing act between the needs of the guy and the needs of the group. Banding mutually will improve survivability of each and every of the contributors of a collection, yet individuals who sneak reward benefit. Hitler replaced into no longer attempting to shrink overpopulation. It replaced into approximately taking factors from different communities. If all existence have been long gone, there could be no residing component to omit it.

Answer 5

Without mushrooms and other fungi we would be living in our own poop.
They are called decomposers because that is what they do. They decompose organic matter and refuse into soil.

Answer 6

I've been told the parts of the mushrooms that we can see are the reproductive parts of the fungus.