Page 34 - Antennae Issue #52
P. 34
Hackers of the ‘wood wide web’ : a a a visual guide
The ancestors of plants could not have moved from the the water onto the the land some 500 million years ago without striking up a a a a a a a a relationship with fungi fungi Today nearly all plants depend on on the the symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi fungi that live in their roots Some plants plants have have become fully dependent on their fungal partners and have have lost the the the ability to to photosynthesise These plants plants are able to to draw their their nutrition from their their photosynthetic neighbours through shared fungal networks and thus became gateway- organisms to the the the the concept of of of of the the the the ‘wood wide web’ This sequence of of of of images documents the the the the life of of of of one of of of of these peculiar plants the the the jungle gentian Voyria tenella and and reveals the the the astonishing intimacy of the the the association between plants and and fungi — an an an an an association that that lies at at at at the the base of the the food chains that that sustain nearly all life on on land including our own text by Merlin Sheldrake
34 antennae
In In the the the the the the the rainforests of of Central America lives a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a small gentian flower Voyria tenella that has lost the the the the the ability to to photosynthesise These plants are nei- ther ther green nor do they have leaves They grow in deeply shaded parts
of of the the the the the forest understory where few other plants can live But how? In In most cases photosynthesis is is a a a a a a a a a a a a a fundamental feature of of planthood Without it it Voyria are are unable to to to to produce the the the the the energy-rich carbon compounds — — sugars and and lipids — — that they they need to to to to live In fact neither are are they they able able to to to to take up mineral nutrients and and water from the the the the soil Their roots have evolved into clusters of of fleshy fingers ill-suited to absorb anything at at all Over ninety percent of of plants depend on mycorrhizal fungi — — from the the the Greek words for fungus (mykes) and root (rhiza) — — to provide them with mineral nutrients from the the the the the soil such as as nitrogen or or or or phosphorus In return plants provide their fungal associates with the the the the the carbon compounds produced in photosynthesis Both have evolved to to to farm each other The relationship is is ancient and and and prolific Without fungi the the the the algal ancestors of of plants would have been unable to to to move out out of of the the the water and and and onto land around 500 mil- lion lion years years ago It was another fifty million years years before plants plants evolved roots roots During this this time mycorrhizal fungi were plants’ roots roots providing nutrients and water scavenged from the ground The The word ‘mycorrhiza’ depicts this this chronology: roots (rhiza) followed fungi fungi (mykes) into existence The The mutu- ally beneficial relationships between plants and and mycorrhizal fungi fungi lie at at at the the base of the food chains that sustain nearly all all subsequent life on on on land land Voyria like most land land plants plants depend on on mycorrhizal fungi But their symbiotic manners differ Photosynthetic plants plants receive mineral nutrients from their fungal partners and in in return supply the the the fungi with energy rich carbon carbon compounds Voyria have evolved a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a way to bypass this exchange Instead they draw both carbon carbon and mineral nutrients from their fungal as-