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| Today's snowdrops |
It has been a long while since the last post, since my mind has been on subjects far removed from mushrooms. My obsession with all things fungi must have decided to take time off for Christmas - but it's back now, all refreshed and ready to keep me going for yet another year.
And not a moment too soon, as it looks like spring has arrived to Scotland two months early. First spring flowers have come out, buds on the trees are opening, and little birds in my garden just wouldn't shut up. As for the drakes on the mill pond... Ahem. All right, I'll stop right there, but you get the idea.
While I was pondering over the current weather anomaly, a message dropped into my inbox with a
link to an article about fungi competing with microbes for nitrogen in soil, therefore preventing the latter from breaking up plant matter. This results in more carbon being retained in the soil, as opposed to being released into the atmosphere to add to the greenhouse effect. The article notes that not all fungi are created equal in this respect. It is just the ecto- and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi that do this, with their soil samples containing 70% more carbon than those of arbuscular mycorrhizal ones.
The most famous example of an ectomycorrhizal fungus is the cep (
Boletus edulis). So here is an additional incentive to learn to cultivate it: if only we learned how, in addition to an amazing food source, we wouldn't need to worry about climate change anymore...
