Hey everyone, first of all I hope that you are all doing well so far and have a week which is full of interesting experiences! In my new article, I would like to share some curious facts about nature and am happy if you can learn new things.
Some may only consider mushrooms as food, but there is much more behind these wonders of nature and in this article I would like to list some amazing facts that will definitely amaze others. Even if at first glance it does not give the appearance, it's not different with fungi than with humans when it comes to breathing and the process is not different and as a basis the inhaled oxygen is converted into CO₂ which is later released back to nature. Even if at first glance the fungus grows at the surface, a large part of this organism is growing in the underground where they often form large networks of mycelium, some of which can reach unimaginable sizes and there is even a species considered as the largest organism in the world which is whole hectares large due to the mycelium. This mushroom is a specimen in the United States of America which is located in the state of Oregon and researchers assume that it could already be thousands of years old.
This proves not only that the human eye usually only perceives the visible things, but what forms of intelligence can be found in nature and this is also noticeable in these underground networks because fungi go into symbiosis with plants or trees to exchange nutrients with each other and this form of exchange is extremely important for biodiversity and without this chain many things would no longer work. It was also discovered that fungi could have their own kind of nervous system and interact with each other by electrical impulses and of particular interest in this context in research is the mycelium which, as already mentioned above, can stretch over extremely long distances. I also found it very interesting to learn that there are even fungi that have the ability to absorb radioactive substances and transform them in such a way that growth is promoted and as if that is not interesting enough, there are even species that can degrade synthetically produced materials that are otherwise harmful to the environment.
Also as an indicator of environmental pollution, fungi can be interesting to recognise the degree of pollution in a certain area and it can be said that fungi are also a glimmer of hope when it comes to the ever-increasing environmental pollution. Similar to the lion, which is often referred to as the king of animals, there are fungi that can also influence other creatures and even control the behaviour and here there are various experiments that prove that some insects adapt their behaviour due to some fungi. As with humans, some types can also react to touch or injuries and some fungi even discolour when touched, but also other liquids can be secreted which even resemble the blood of humans and other fungi produce a kind of ink. Many mushrooms have such refined protective mechanisms to protect themselves from natural predators and it's particularly bizarre that some species are even able to pierce materials such as stone to grow.
Many thanks for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new and like my post! I captured these pictures with my Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm