Rachel Feltman: For American scientists Science quickly, I am Rachel Feltman.
Even if you do not know what the International Union for the Conservation of Nature is outside your head, I can guarantee that you have heard of it: IUCN performs a tab on the state of conservation of living organisms worldwide. The giant pandas are listed as vulnerable in the red list, the Asian giant turtle is marked as critical danger, and many other charismatic megafauna also have not so honorable mentions. But the IUCN recent one sounded the conservation alarm for some creatures that many of us spend much less time thinking: fungi.
In March, the IUCN announced that its experts, evaluated 482 species of fungi for the first time, raising fungal members of the red list to 1,300. Around a third of these species run the risk of extinction.
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Most people don’t care about fungi or molds much, what IUCn says it is a big problem. Today’s guests will help us understand why. Gregory Mueller, Chief Chief Scientist of the Botanical Garden of Chicago and Fungal Conservation Programs for IUCN, and Anders Dahlberg, professor of mycology at the Sweden University of Agricultural Sciences, accompany me.
Thank you very much to talk today.
Gregory Mueller: It’s a pleasure.
Otherwise, Dahlberg: It is really a pleasure.
Fienteman: Then the IUCN is playing the fungal alarm. Gregory, I will start with a question for you: is this surprising news for mycologists?
Mueller: I do not think it is very surprising for the mycologist, but for the broader conservation community. For a long time, fungi were not really needed
Fienteman: Mm.
Mueller: And now we know that, like animals and plants, fungi have very discreet distributions, discrete habitat preferences, so if it is something in problems in one place, it is probably in trouble.
Fienteman: Mm, and, different, why do you think fungi have children or Godes the short end of A, a conservation point of view?
Dahlberg: I think most of the time they live [cryptically]They don’t look [even] He thought we have an immense diversity of fungal species in the world. And therefore, they have overlooked their legs, they have not been considered, Althehegh are omnipresent and are vital players for everything that things work in nature. So I think that people have consulted that the presence of species is disseminated and understand how they are threatened or not.
Fienteman: And, Gregory, could you tell our listeners a little about why the kingdom of life is so important to protect?
Mueller: Of course, so fungi play incredible ecological papers. They are recyclers of nature, so they are recycling of dead organic material. Now, when it happens on your back of your refrigerator, when there is rot in the orange or something back, you do not like it, but in nature you are breaking the wood, dead leaves, all like greeting, so you really recover.
Secondly, there are some that import pathogens that cause plants’ disease and some animals, but many of them also form critically important symbiosis, mutualisms, that plants need to grow and prosper. And so, without these fungi, we would simply do not make nature as we know it; I would not simply survive. And then, the most important thing is all children’s or economic reasons that fungi are important: for food, for medications and things like that. I like to say: life as we know it on this planet would not exist without fungi.
Fienteman: Could you give our listeners some examples of some of these symbiotic relationships? You know, what are some plants that would really be in trouble without fungi?
Mueller: Of course, our pines, our oaks, all require a relationship with what we call mycorrium fungi. And so, the fungus that grows on the ground, absorbs water and nutrients and transports it to the roots of the tree. And in return, the tree provides sugars that makes three photosynthesis, passes to the roots and the fungus. Then he is the son of a controlled parasitism, if you want to say it. But both partners require that the other partner survives and prosper.
And those are some of our great edible species: chantrelles, bullets, things like that are also mycorrin fungi of thesis.
Dahlberg: And I think there is also an addition to that: that thesis symbiosis have evolved their beginning, when the first plants began to land 400, 500 million years ago. Then in principle [nearly] All plants around the world have symbiotic thesis relationships and have evolved to absorb soil and water nutrients through this symbiosis, a bit like our microbiome in our stomach and intestine: their work.
Fienteman: HMM, so there are many effects downstream of the fungi fighting those who could not be aware.
Dahlberg: Definitely, there are, and are exhibited with the same stress as animals and plants …
Fienteman: Mm.
Dahlberg: That when the habitats are changing, when we are more intensely [using] Agricultural land or areas around cities or use forests, which affect their fungal species, or similar to those of animals and plants.
Fienteman: And what other son of threats face fungi?
Dahlberg: So, the main threats are the kind of changing habitats, that humans are using the earth, and that is not strange. I mean, I am or say that nature doesn’t care, but we care. Nature: species are adjusting to the prevailing conditions. Some are favored, others are disadvantaged, depending on how we handle our land.
And then there are other threats in addition to the use of habitat or course. It is, as, the deposition of nitrogen, that we are using cars and motors and causing a lot of nitrogen that is enriched, which makes the soil and the earth more fertile, such as the changing climate, the gradual case in the conditions of the plants for plants for plants for plants. And the increase in fire incidents: particular soe species that are restricted to certain habitats that are prone to [subject] Disappear due to the increase in fire incidents, for example.
Fienteman: Gregory, what do you expect to see the change so that we can protect the mushrooms of the world?
Mueller: I think the first thing is a recognition that fungi must be consulted in the conservation policy, in conservation actions and that they receive the attention they need.
Fienteman: Mm.
Mueller: You know, to date, more or less, they are out of sight, outside the mind and are not considered bees, and we, hopefully, this increases that we must think of fungi, we need to incorporate fungi in our actions.
Fienteman: Yeah.
Mueller: I think that part of the problem that people always say that we cannot do things about fungi is because there are so many of them that we still don’t know, right?
Fienteman: Mm.
Mueller: There are about 160,000 species described, but there is an estimate or two to three million species. Then you say: “Oh, what do we know?” But I think what this study shows is that we know a lot, we know enough to include fungi in our work, to recognize that fungi need protection. And yes, we need much more work, we need much more information, but we know enough to do the work that should be done.
Fienteman: Hmm.
Dahlberg: And, and I think that: that the things that we, we do not see, it is different to know, and it is equally more difficult to appreciate such things, as are mainly cryptic fungi. And we must really be aware of this cryptic organism to safeguard its existence if we want [to] For the future.
Fienteman: Yes, well, my last question for both of us: mycology was my favorite topic as a university student, but I think most people don’t spend much time thinking about fungi, so I would love to ask them: What do you love to study mycology? You know, what is something that you want the general public to know so that they could appreciate this kingdom more?
Mueller: For me it is its diversity, beauty. I got excited because we knew [such a] Bit [it] But what we knew was so exciting: the fact that these are intimately associated with other organisms. So, as a scientist, I work with mutual organisms, so I need to be a mutual biologist: I need to work with plants wheat blades, I need to work with my animal leagues, so I cannot work independently; I need to be thinking about the whole system to be able to do my job, and I find it very exciting.
Dahlberg: It is really a fascinating way of life, and in a way it is classified or parallel to animals, but they have the same ancestors, only two different branches. So somehow I consider it as different [ways] Or the packaging DNA that moves in space and time, where fungi leave with their own, with mycelliums, which can be of short duration or long life. They can be small; They can be widely large. I mean, they can be like a kind of plankton or can be large in the – like this giant aspen, the pando you have in Utah, for example. It is an immense variation in life forms, in sizes and things like that. And that fascinates us, in particular, to dwell in that, to better understand how their lives continue.
Fienteman: Well, thank you very much for coming to chat today. This has been great.
Dahlberg: Thank you.
Mueller: Thank you.
Fienteman: That’s all for today’s episode. We will return on Monday with our usual scientific news summary.
Science quickly It is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff del Viscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck verify our program. Our musical theme was composed of Dominic Smith. Subscribe to American scientist For more up -to -date and depth scientific news.
For Scientific American, This is Rachel Feltman. Have a great weekend!
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