Mushrooms - The silent 'architects' of nature

Just take a walk through a forest in the United States and you will easily come across mushrooms of all shapes, sizes and colors. This is part of the vast "kingdom" of fungi, a hidden world of life both underground and above ground.

Fungi play a vital role in the ecosystems on which all life depends, but our knowledge of them is still very limited. Fungi come in many shapes: some are tall and slender with heads that resemble 'helmets' , while others are shaped like brain folds.

Biochemically, fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants.

Amy Honan, a professor of mycology and fungal ecology at the University of Oregon, says that biochemically, fungi are more closely related to animals than they are to plants. Plants can produce their own food through photosynthesis, but fungi cannot; they need to feed on their environment. Honan explains that fungi use enzymes to break down external food. They secrete enzymes to break down organic matter and absorb nutrients.

Of the at least 2.5 million species of fungi thought to exist on Earth, science has only described about 150,000, or about 6%. Compared to what we know about plants and animals, that number is truly modest. Honan said that we only know about 98% of the vertebrates on the planet, about 85% of the plants, and just 20% of the invertebrates on the planet.

The lack of knowledge about fungi is worrying, given their vital role in ecosystems. Fungi predate plants and are essential to all terrestrial ecosystems. They provide plants with a range of benefits, from salt tolerance to disease resistance. Without fungi, plants would not exist, Honan stressed, and that would impact the planet's oxygen supply.

Awareness of the importance of fungi is growing, and the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16), taking place in Colombia from 21 October, will include a discussion on the role of fungi. Chile and the United States have previously proposed recognising fungi as an 'independent living kingdom' in laws, policies and agreements to promote their conservation and sustain their benefits to ecosystems and people.