Fungi play a crucial role in decomposition. As they follow this process, fungi release nutrients that the trees around it absorb. Eventually, the fungi attach itself to the roots of the nature around them and begin the cycle of giving and getting to keep the environment in balance. Listen to learn how fungi first colonized land and what would happen if fungi were not able to spread.
Story Length: 5:29
This audio is part of the One Species at a Time series hosted by Ari Daniel Shapiro and produced by Atlantic Public Media and the Encyclopedia of Life, with the support from the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Read the Podcast Transcript. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.
AIR DATE: 05/02/2012
