Why Fungi?

[Credit: Giuliana Furci]

1

Yeasts are fungi and without them there would be no bread, beer, wine, chocolate, coffee, and more. Furthermore, they are a nutritious food source, which help to strengthen the immune system.

[Credit: Carolina Magnasco]

3

Through decomposition they recycle all organic matter on the planet! There are fungi that can even decompose plastic and petrochemicals.

[Credit: Verónica López]

5

Much of life on land is dependent on plants' interactions with mycorrhizal fungi, which expand the amount of soil that trees can explore with their roots by using their network of filaments (mycelium) to reach into smaller pores, allowing trees to access water and nutrients that would otherwise be unavailable to them (source: State of fungi 2020)

[Credit: Matthew Smith]

2

They are carbon reservoirs of nature, and play a vital role in the prevention of accelerated climate change. Thanks to their mutualistic relationship with trees, they receive carbon from them through the roots, which helps them grow. Thus, carbon is kept in the mycelium (underground) and not in the atmosphere.

[Credit: Mateo Barrenengoa]

4

They are excellent remediators, capable of cleaning up toxic waste such as oil or converting radiation into chemical energy for growth. There are fungi that remove copper, zinc, iron, cadmium, lead and nickel from aqueous solutions through absorption.