276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Humongous Fungus (Underground and All Around)

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Soon afterward, the discovery of an even bigger fungus in southwestern Washington was announced by Terry Shaw, then in Colorado with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and Ken Russell, a forest pathologist at Washington State Department of Natural Resources, in 1992. Their fungus, a specimen of Armillaria ostoyae, covered about 1,500 acres (600 hectares) or 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers). And in 2003 Catherine Parks of the USFS in Oregon and her colleagues published their discovery of the current behemoth 2,384-acre Armillaria ostoyae. Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth

Humongous Fungus (Underground and All Around) by D.K Humongous Fungus (Underground and All Around) by D.K

Both the giant blue whale and the humongous fungus fit comfortably within this definition. So does the 6,615-ton (six-million-kilogram) colony of a male quaking aspen tree and his clones that covers 107 acres (43 hectares) of a Utah mountainside.This one, A. ostoyae, causes Armillaria root disease, which kills swaths of conifers in many parts of the U.S. and Canada. The fungus primarily grows along tree roots via hyphae, fine filaments that mat together and excrete digestive enzymes. But Armillaria has the unique ability to extend rhizomorphs, flat shoestringlike structures, that bridge gaps between food sources and expand the fungus's sweeping perimeter ever more. They carpet the forest floor, and hidden fungi decompose matter, feed plants, and affect how animals function. There’re mighty killers that could wipe out an entire crop, but there’s also eco-friendly fungi like the one discovered in 2017 to be able to break down plastic. People had ideas that maybe they were big but nobody had any idea they were that big," says Tom Volk, a biology professor at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. "Well it's certainly the biggest publicity that mycology is going to get—maybe ever."

Humongous Fungus - AbeBooks Humongous Fungus - AbeBooks

There’re also the “bad guys”, or rather they face the same survival battle for the fittest in nature with the most creative weapons. This book of fabulous fungi will intrigue and amaze young readers, and open their eyes to the fungi thriving all around them. This book works as a wonderful introduction to the fungus world for children ages 7-9. It is not intended as a field guide, so note that children should not go out and forage on their own after reading this. Their beautiful mushrooms come in all colours, shapes, and sizes. Fungal stories include the greening of the Earth, when fungi helped plants first grow on land, and the mass destruction of crops through fungal disease. From the villains of the upcoming bananageddon to plastic-eating eco-warriors, there are over 1.5 million known fungus species, and a huge, unknown number of unnamed "dark" types. Some are even found inside animals – helpful fungi break down food in animal guts, but others take over their hosts' bodies.

Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. Create Account The vast fungus kingdom has an estimated four million species — ten times more than plants and 600 times more than mammals. They’re every plant and animal’s teammate, when there’s a job to be done such as a “food swap” between fungus and plant, or simply some help with survival. The discovery of this giant Armillaria ostoyae in 1998 heralded a new record holder for the title of the world's largest known organism, believed by most to be the 110-foot- (33.5-meter-) long, 200-ton blue whale. Based on its current growth rate, the fungus is estimated to be 2,400 years old but could be as ancient as 8,650 years, which would earn it a place among the oldest living organisms as well. Humongous Fungus of fabulous fungi will intrigue and amaze young readers, and open their eyes to the fungi thriving all around them.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment