Mushrooms

Fungi only venture above ground occasionally, but are omnipresent in the root zone of plants.  Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are a special group that are symbiotic with prairie plants; the fungi supply soil nutrients the plants can’t reach, and the plants provide sugars released from their roots.  The whole process is set in motion when a cow bites a plant. Mycorrhizal fungi are key for carbon storage in soils, we’ll explore that in detail in a future sustainability journal entry.