Transcript:

Mushroom Hunting Unseen WorldAmbience: walking through leavesWalk into a forest and you're struck by the beauty and intricacy of the ecosystem, but there's an unseen world beneath your feed that's just as complex. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Work: The complexity of what's going on under the ground in terms of this enormous network of fungal mycelia and roots and their interrelationships -- its almost incomprehensible how complex it is.Dave Work is former president of the mid-Hudson Mycological Association. The mycelia he's speaking of are the thread-like tubes that branch out from mushrooms and other fungi underground.Work: Many of the mycelia in the forest form relationships with the roots of plants and trees and they form a symbiotic relationship with the tree or plant. The tree will actually supply the fungus with carbohydrates and the fungus will supply the tree with minerals and moisture. If you are planning to go out to look for a specific type of mushroom, the first thing you need to do is to learn your trees. Specific fungi have relationships with specific trees. When you get to know fungi you're also getting to know the whole forestDifferent mushrooms prefer different environments. If I'm looking for Morel mushrooms, I'm going to be looking for old orchards or dying elm trees. A lot of those elm trees might be along the side of farmers' fields.We'll hear more on mushroom hunting in future programs. Pulse of the Planet is made possible in part by Virginia Tech, inventing the future through a hands-on approach to education and research.