Fungi also form mutualistic associations with algae and cyanobacteria in the dual organisms known as lichens. Fungi are also important mutualists over 90% of plants in nature have mycorrhizae, associations of their roots with fungi, which help to scavenge essential minerals from nutrient poor soils. Thus, many are excellent scavengers in nature, breaking down dead animal and vegetable material into simpler compounds that become available to other members of the ecosystem. Since all fungi are heterotrophic, they rely on organic material, either living or dead, as a source of energy. Fungi have many different kinds of associations with other organisms, both living and dead.

They are a vital part of the links in the food web as decomposers and pathogens and are important in grassland and forest ecosystems alike. However fungi play very important roles in the ecosystem. Many ecologists do not even think about fungi when doing their experiments or observations. For example, more than 90% of fungal species have never been screened for antibiotics or other useful compounds. The study of fungi has increased exponentially in the past 100 years, but they are still being ignored or neglected in many fields of study. Fungi affect human lives in many and varied ways, so it is important to know something about fungal biology in order to be able to control or exploit them for our own purposes. Often they don't know what a mycologist is, but when I tell them, the next question is 'why?' Why study fungi? When someone mentions 'fungi' you may think immediately of mushrooms on pizza or maybe moldy food in your refrigerator or the fungus growing on your t o e s - But in fact fungi are everywhere and affect our lives every day, from mushrooms to industrially important products to plant helpers to plant pathogens to human diseases. Fungi: The threads that keep ecosystems together When people ask what I do for a living, and I tell them I'm a mycologist, they usually react with surprise.

Introductory mycology alexopoulos pdf