Kingdom of Fungi

Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom. - Thomas Carlyle

Fungi and mushrooms are beneficial to our ecosystem by processing dead material, healthy plant growth, nutrition, medicine and creating a healthier environment. Unlike plants, mushrooms cannot photosynthesize since they lack chlorophyll. Hence, they survive using special methods such as symbiosis, saprophstiym and parasitism.

 

Symbiosis: Many mushrooms are linked to trees by symbiosis. They help the tree extract minerals and water from the soil and in exchange, the tree supplies the mushroom with carbohydrates.

Saprophstiym: A few mushrooms feed themselves by digesting the organic matter and at the same time returns nutrients to the soil.

Parasitism: Some microscopic mushrooms are parasites. A few attack a healthy host (tree, plant or insect) and live on it without killing it while others attack unhealthy hosts, thereby hastening their death.

Some mushrooms remain poisonous in order to protect themselves from being eaten and that they can reproduce. A few non-poisonous ones use the opposite strategy. They need animals to eat them in order to spread spores through faeces. Presenting a few colourful poisonous mushrooms which I came across this autumn.

A tryst with nature #fungi

Flyagaric

Panther Cap

Magpie fungus (Coprinus picaceus)

 

This post is part of Blogchatter's CauseAChatter

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Blue-Green Algae Alert

Blue green algae, also known as cyanobacteria is a type of bacteria which uses the sun’s energy to make food in the same way that plants do. They are commonly found in estuaries, inland waters and sea.

Blue-green algae grows in water which is enriched with nitrates and phosphates. Warm weather conditions along with nutrients result in algal blooms which produce a musty odour.

Though, they play an important role in shaping the biosphere, when the blooms die they break down, using up oxygen in the water and this causes problems for aquatic life such as fish.

Although many blue-green algae blooms are not toxic, some produce toxins which can irritate the skin and if swallowed, cause diarrhea and vomiting. High concentration level of toxins cause liver and nervous system damage. The following measures can help prevent a blue-green algae bloom from occurring:

• Avoid overfeeding fish or birds; this reduces the cause for nutrient buildup.
• Plant native flora around ponds which help in filtering water.
• Avoid overuse of fertilizers, especially near bodies of water.

Although it is not advisable to stop blue green algae blooms, we need to follow proper guidelines to control their growth.

A tryst with nature #bluegreenalgae

This post is part of Blogchatter's CauseAChatter

  https://www.theblogchatter.com/causeachatter