The first sign of life from a seed is the emergence of a tiny white root. A typical tree has hundreds of thousands of root tips, all connected by vessels to the top of the tree.
Most of these delicate roots are wrapped up by fungus in order to protect them. The fungi, or mycelia, supply the roots with nutrients from all over the forest floor. The mycelia and the roots are thus tied together in an underground web. This is the Fungal Network.
Fungi play every role imaginable in the forest, from helper to harmer.
Shelf fungi grow on dead trees and are spectacular in form and colour. Other types of fungi inhabit then kill a tree. If you were to peel back the bark from one of these trees you can see the white fungal mycelia dissolving the fibre and decomposing the tree, aiding the forest ecosystem. In time the trees will be lying on the ground, becoming precious soil.
Beneath the Bark
There is another world happening under the bark in the form of insects and their complex interactions. Beetle larvae have been busy making their tunnels, working away unseen. The female beetles chew through the bark, making nurseries for their eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae, who are genetically programmed to start chewing in particular patterns as they slowly eat their way away from home then make a cavity where they rest, turn brown, dry and tight – seemingly dead. Then, come the spring, the brown shells burst and the larvae become winged insects who chew through the bark into the sunlight to use their wings for the first time!
The aesthetic beauty of bark, both inside and out, is a maze of complexity and is host to fungi and insects alike.
“This is a real place . . .it’s a place where both the learning and the mysteries go on forever.” (Maloof, J )
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