When
we hear the word "fungi", it's not surprising to think
of unpleasant images like wood rot, spoiled food, and
even athlete's foot...!
Fungi might be "strange", but they are unique organisms
vital to the planet's development.
Though often associated with plants, they are closer to
animals in terms of behavior.
They
are their own kingdom - not part of the animal or plant
kingdom.
Scientists estimate that there are between six to eight
million species of fungi, with only about 1% identified.
Fungi are found everywhere, from the Arctic to the
tropics, the highest mountains, to deep within the
Earth.
The word "fungi" means "to rot" in Latin because many
species of fungi are decomposers, breaking down all
things organic:
plants, animals, even rocks, soil, and
sand...
Though they don't move, have no legs, etc., they are
motivated by hunger and are constantly looking for food.
Fungi played a significant role in the forming of
terrestrial life - basically due to their insatiable
appetite.
A
billion years ago, the ice age was ending, and Earth was
barren and empty with all life in the water.
When
the first microbes "stepped foot" on land, some of them
were fungi that survived on land by mining minerals from
rocks - eating the rocks and turning them into soil.
As time went on, fungi made alliances with other
organisms, constantly spreading and slowly adding life
to the planet.
Fungi also released oxygen and took part in changing the
planet's atmosphere due to symbiotic relationships with
liverworts - the world's oldest plants.
To
bring home the resiliency of fungi, they have survived
many planet-altering events such as
ice ages,
asteroid
collisions, and more.
In the modern world, fungi make up ingredients for
various life-saving medicines, including antibiotics,
while other species speed up compost.
Fungi can break down and recycle almost anything in
nature, making them particularly useful in
bioremediation, the process of using living organisms to
break down environmental contaminants.
Scientists are also using fungi to develop new ways of
developing bio-based substitutes for plastics, paper,
fabrics, and even medicines.
Of course, fungi can be hazardous and lethal.
They
can infect cold-blooded animals such as reptiles to
devastating effects. Humans have been lucky so far since
only a few fungi species can survive our body
temperature of 37º.
However, with 'global warming' and impending climate
change, the world is drier and 'warmer'...
Soil
- home of many fungi - dries up faster transforming into
dust that people can inhale, increasing the chances of
fungus entering our bodies.
It is imperative to delve
deeper into our relationships with fungi now more than
ever.
They're the ones that keep bringing life back to Earth
after every major disaster, and yep, they can quickly
kill us off too.
Fungi can be difficult to study as they are so diverse
and can be hard to identify.
However, scientists worldwide are working to understand
these organisms better and find ways they can benefit
people even more.
Directed by: Annamaria Talas, Simon Nasht
2018
from
TopDocumentaryFilms
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