Alison Pouliot : Underground Lovers - A foray in fungal realms

Underground Lovers – A foray in fungal realms

It seems we are in something of a fungal turn. Once overlooked, fungi are the exhilarating new poster organisms reconfiguring our understanding of the natural word and capturing the public imagination. Although little known, the roots of almost every plant in the Australian landscape are intimately entwined with fungi. These clandestine relationships extend beyond trees to include every orchid and most shrubs and grasses. Symbioses are the secret to success in our highly variable climate and nutrient-deficient soils. Fungi not only help plants access water and nutrients, but also increase their resistance to drought and disease. They build architecture in soils, aerate them, and allow water to gently percolate to deeper horizons. Despite this, ‘the third F’ slips through ideas about nature and conservation that focus on flora and fauna. Fungi not only contravene the frameworks we use to understand life, but…