Mushrooms – the invisible archi­tects of life

Fungi are among the oldest living organisms on Earth.

Their history stret­ches back over a billion years – long before the first plants or animals existed. Fossil finds show that fungi played a crucial role in the early stages of life: they helped break down rock and create the founda­tions for fertile soils. Without fungi, life on land would hardly have been able to develop.

Today we find fungi every­where – from tiny yeasts to mighty bracket fungi. The latter form highly complex networks together with plant roots, subtly control­ling the ecosystem. Through fine fungal threads in the soil, the so-called mycelia, trees and plants are connected. This “under­ground commu­ni­ca­tion system”, the wood wide web, enables the exchange of water, nutri­ents and even chemical signals, through which plants cope better with stress or danger.

Fungi are true recycling geniuses:

• They break down dead wood, leaves and other organic matter and turn them into nutrient-rich humus.
• They bind carbon in the soil and help stabi­lise the climate.
• They promote water reten­tion and improve soil struc­ture – a crucial basis for healthy forests and sustainable terrestrial ecosys­tems.

Without fungi, the cycle of life would come to a standstill. They are the invisible archi­tects of our forests, meadows and soils – quiet, effec­tive and indis­pensable.

The loss of near-natural forest areas through defore­sta­tion, agricul­ture and urban expan­sion, as well as over-ferti­li­sa­tion with nitrogen and phosphate, which alter the soil environ­ment, endanger the life of fungi.

Near-natural forestry, species-rich mixed deciduous forests with diverse symbiotic partners, deadwood, old trees and habitat trees with bark cracks or cavities, on the other hand, create habitats, inclu­ding for rare fungal species.

If we protect the habitats of fungi, we protect the very founda­tion of life itself.