What happens when a fungus dies in the forest?

I recently published a new paper (Decomposition of Fomes fomentatius fruiting bodies – transition of healthy living fungus into a decayed bacteria-rich habitat is primarily driven by Arthropoda) where I am the first author. The focus of the paper was on the fungus Fomes fomentarius, commonly known as the tinder fungus or hoof fungus. I thought it might be nice to write a little summary here for those who will not read a full scientific paper.

A large example of Fomes fomentarius I found on a dead log in the Bavarian Forest, Germany.

The story started before I even joined the lab. My colleagues had collected samples of living and dead F. fomentarius (hereafter referred to as Fomes) from trees in the Žofín Forest in the south of Czechia, just next to the Austrian border. Fomes is widespread in European forests and is what is known as a white-rot fungus. This means that it is capable of digesting all the major components of deadwood; brown-rot fungi are unable to digest lignin. Together, this makes Fomes very important in understanding the decomposition of deadwood, which allows nutrients to cycle back to other living things.

Dog brains, language and Deutsche Welle

A dog set up for measuring brain activity. (Still from the DW video.)

I like seeing stories about science, but they need to be clear and accurate. Trying to understand the world is complicated; scientific studies have limitations and often address very specific questions. If people aren’t clear with their wording, they will give an inaccurate picture of what was done. That’s why I was quite disappointed with a recent video from Deutsche Welle—a news source that I trust to give accurate information.

The video is about a recent study on the way that dogs’ brains respond to human language. Specifically, it looked at the brain response when a dog hears a known object name and then is shown either the named object or a different object. If there is a difference between these responses (and there was), it is evidence that the dog forms a mental picture of the object when it hears its name, i.e. that it has a referential understanding of language. It’s a really cool finding.

Mini-documentary about fungi

Packaging material made from fungi (Image: MME)

If you remember my commentary to my short story, The Moralbiont, you’ll know that it talked about alternative uses for fungi, such as vegan leather. The German broadcaster, Deutsche Welle has a really neat English-version of a mini-documentary on the topic, created by Bayerischer Rundfunk, a public broadcaster in Bavaria, and Arte, a European public service channel.

The documentary, The magic of mushroom mycelium, covers some of the topics that I discussed and some new ones. It primarily focuses on using fungi for bioremediation—that is using fungi to remove pollutants from the soil—and turning the network of fungal cells—the mycelium—into materials which can replace plastics or leather.

Songs about scientists

Recently, I was trying to think of songs about specific scientists and I could only think of two! I know a few that are about science in general (both good and bad ones) and there are certainly parody songs available online but it seems rare for professional bands to sing about scientists. This is a bit sad because it’s a way to recognise scientists and science in our cultural products.

Even when I searched online for songs about scientists, the lists were not really satisfactory. Most turned out to be songs about science in general or have little to nothing to do with science. Since none of the lists even mentioned the songs that I already know are about scientists, I am absolutely sure that they are incomplete and that there must be more out there. For now, I will share the ones that I do know because they are also good songs.

Quicklinks: 6 – 12 March 2023

Clearly this is quite a bit later than it was supposed to be but, since I had already picked out the links, I decided I would finish it. However, I’m giving up on the weekly quicklinks; they were supposed to help me get some easy writing done in my spare time but they turned out to be a lot more effort and stress than they are worth.

The Japanese name for the wolf also means “great god.”

Did you know the Japanese word "ōkami" is a homonym for “wolf” and “great god”? The last wolf in Japan was killed in 1905, but since the 1990s, there have been groups advocating for reintroducing wolves to help mitigate the damage caused by deer and wild boars. #wolf #funfact pic.twitter.com/qGOsmWBDWM

— Wolf Haven International (@wolfhavenint) March 10, 2023

This article suggests that giving wild animals names, instead of just numbers or other designations, helps reduce the sense that humans are separate from the rest of nature.

Quicklinks: 27 February – 5 March 2023

Good news, Mexican wolf numbers are increasing! To be clear, that’s Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. They were reintroduced in 1998 and are now at 241 wolves!

Unfortunately, not everything is good. There’s a worry that biophobia, the fear of nature, could lead to less conservation of wild spaces. With many people living in cities with few green spaces and opportunities to interact with wildlife, nature seems strange, scary and not worth preserving. This is something we need to guard against.

In my previous postdoc, I worked with Professor Don Cowan. There’s a nice article about him and his work in Antarctica, where he’s shown that there is far more microbial diversity than was initially suspected. A lot of his work has involved microbial life in extreme environments, see also when I accompanied him on a field trip to the Namib Desert.

Quicklinks: 20 – 26 February 2023

When I was a kid and visited rock pools, I’d always look carefully, hoping to see an octopus in the wild. It never happened. This would have been the dream!

This was one of the most incredible wildlife encounters I’ve ever had — seen while tidepooling on the Northern California coast. (Also please enjoy the look of sheer terror on my friend 😅) pic.twitter.com/dTz4ssqvEY

— E. Anne Chambers (@chamberea) February 20, 2023

This article looks at conservation and animal distributions and suggests that, maybe, we’re trying to save animals in the wrong places. Perhaps where animals are now is only where they have been pushed by human expansion, rather than being the best places for them. It shows the complications of dealing things in the real world and how our desire for a “correct” world clashes with the reality that the world is always changing. Conservation is important but what are you conserving and when is your conservation harming more than its helping? These sort of questions are not limited to animals but are also applicable to humans. It’s difficult to say who belongs where because human history is a history of migration. Who is “supposed” to live where will change depending at what time you choose.

Quicklinks: 06 – 19 February 2023

This time we’re doing two weeks together. Why? I got infected with covid and so all my plans and normal activities have completely gone out the window. It was not a particularly severe case though but it’s still been quite disruptive.

This week we’re starting off with an impressive picture of a snow leopard which was taken in Mongolia.

Best of '22: My favorite shot of the year, finally getting a wild snow leopard not only within decent range (previous viewings were 1-2km away), but in a fantastic setting. It's WILD, the shot isn't faked… and this will probably never happen to me again. 😉

(Western Mongolia) pic.twitter.com/0F9s44qyNb

— Max Waugh (@MaxWaughPhoto) January 11, 2023