| The mushrooms that you can find on almost any walk through a forest are the "fruits" of an underground network of tiny strands of fungus. Many of these fungi strands, called "micorrhizal fungi" grow around tree roots. The trees and the fungi are both dependent on each other for certain nutrients. If the tree is cut down, the fungi strands around its roots die. If a new tree is then planted in the same spot, it will not grow as well because the soil now lacks this important fungus. |
A bracket fungus growing on a tree trunk in mixed temperate forest. Photo by Maya Walters. |
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