Are Mushrooms The Secret to Rewilding Britain?

I've recently become obsessed with finding this crazy purple mushroom known as amethyst deceiver not only does it look insane but just like many other fungi it works miracles for our natural world this purple beauty is a mycorrhizal fungi meaning it works insanely well for the roots of plants but more on that later some have to jump in the car because where I live there's not that much Woodland let alone mature Beech trees which is where I'm gonna find that purple goodness [Music] all right [Music] so where I've come to this is predominantly an oak Woodland look at the size of this big old oak tree here Oak and Holly a lot of Bramble on the ground so I'm not sure how many mushrooms I'm gonna find fungi is often referred to as the neglected Kingdom of life we used to think of it as a plant but they're actually more like animals because unlike plants they get their food from external sources like us they're heterotrophs I mean honestly the depth of value fungi brings to this world cannot be understated the antibiotic penicillin is a fungi that's changed the course of modern medicine it forms a big part of our Cuisine not just those fancy shiitake mushrooms you buy in the shops but yeast yeast is our fungi responsible for our bread and our beer scientists have demonstrated fungi's ability to efficiently navigate through puzzles and complex Pathways potentially helping us map our Urban infrastructures it is now considered a brilliant renewable and degradable material Adidas created the Stan Smith's Milo a classic trainer which they've now created from mycelium and mushrooms can literally control our minds many enjoy the cognitive release that comes from consuming psychedelic mushrooms recreationally or as a former treatment of depression or addiction but I guess what I'm most interested in is how they they can help us rewild and restore nature because here at Leaf curious we believe that rewilding is a solution to some of the biggest problems that we face and until now I don't think I've really given fungi the attention it deserves because it seems like it underpins all life [Music] not what I'm looking for okay my fungi senses are tingling I mean look at the size of this oak tree here [Music] quite a few mushrooms in and around all of this Bramble beneath this oak tree so I'm gonna do it don't think wearing shorts was the best idea for this oh you just give me he reminds me of a wizard it's like wizard in all the videos I've seen so far they haven't been like oh you need to be in this type of Woodland they've just been like here's loads of amethyst receivers on a stump and I'm like well look here's my stump and look there's nothing but wouldn't have that been great the quest goes on [Music] so this may be somewhat evident right now but I am not an expert when it comes to identifying mushrooms but please those of you that have recognized some of the mushrooms in this video just let me know what they are down in the comments the bone of Something's come along and like nibbled it whilst like perching here and then just I mean that's an even more like obstacle thing to find then like the amethyst find a bone of a deceased animal that's been like resting on a tree you know what the chances of me saying that can you tell I'm getting a little bit a little bit annoyed I'm not finding this determined not to be deceived I decided that I needed to head to a larger older Forest I have come to Epping Forest where the trees are taller and hopefully the mushrooms are plentiful this is why we're here Beach baby the beach I'm obsessed with finding this purple mushroom it's important to remember that that beautiful thing on top of the ground it's the tip of the iceberg that bit we see above the ground is the fruiting body of the fungus it's the reproductive part containing sports but what goes on beneath is what makes fungi such a valuable element for our ecosystems beneath the ground you have the vast networks of mycelium the world's largest living organism is an underground network of Mycelia spanning more than nine square kilometers the mycelium produced fine strains of hyphae and it's how the fungi feeds amethyst receivers are a type of mycorrhizal fungi forming symbiotic relationships with plants in the soils with the roots the microbial fungi made their way into the roots where they exchange sugars and nutrients with the plants the real benefits to the plants comes from the way the mycelium develop with a network of fine filaments known as hyphy which covers an area often 700 times greater than the root system of the plant not only drawing in extra nutrients but also storing and exchanging these nutrients between other trees in the forest in just one gram of forest soil there can be over 200 meters of microbe real threads on the surface looking at our ecosystems it's very easy to assume that plants are the foundations of life but the real foundations are the networks of mycelium in our soils something which I can't stop thinking about is that it could just be on a tree right by me and because I don't look at that tree I don't see it so any tree I see that I think I'm just going straight to it trouble loses everything I see I just think oh well it could be there but the other thing is that they're very common as well which is kind of like a wind-up because I just don't get why I can't find them [Music] I see something purple I see something purple oh it's just a hat that's one of the biggest wind blowing trees I've seen in a long time again you know what did this right fungus big old mature beach trees they're not purple I don't think now they're not the ones I'm looking for I've seen these a lot I know this video is saying just how amazing fungus is but at this point I don't care about any other fungus other than the amethyst receivers and they just just not here wow this thing is huge Jesus is so powdery look at this oh that is massive I refuse to believe that it's a common fungus I just refuse hey look a jumper if I picked the stuff off I'd have like half an outfit by now I'll be walking around without any pants on but I'll have a hat and a jumper in one shoe could this be an old one I don't know if this could be an old one it's giving me Vibes that it could have been purple but this looks like it could have been it oh okay what's going on here what what's this one I honestly thought that looked quite purple for a second just can't help but feel that that was once popular fungi occupy around one third to a half of all of the living mass in our soils this makes them incredibly important to carbon sequestration it's long been thought that trees or even the leaf litter are the main carbon stores but really the trees are just the funnel down to the fungi sponges fungi play a key role in nutrient cycling in decomposing tissues making them available and more accessible again in our soils this is no more evident than in forests many of the fruiting bodies I was seeing were those feeding on the dead and decaying wood tissues but I was also seeing pathogenic fungi those which feed on the living tissues of trees it's these invisible networks of Mycelia which are responsible for the very functioning of our habitats without them I think it's fair to say that life just wouldn't be the same on Earth but if they're so important how can we protect them and ensure their prosperity the first step is to ensure that the delicate network of mycelium in our soils stay intact this is why we must practice regenerative agriculture and ensure our old growth forests remain in place but aside from protecting what's already there we can also work with fungi in a few ways for Habitat restoration so our friends over at Mossy Earth you know the guys with the really good rewilding videos all about the reforestation and rewilding projects they set up well they're looking to start a project that will use ectomycorrhizal fungi a type of mycorrhizal fungi that is associated with trees found in temperate regions like up in Scotland where they'll be looking to inoculate young trees the saplings which they'll plant with ectomycorrhizal fungi this project is in its preliminary stages but they hope it will decrease sapling morality while also increasing the growth and carbon sequestration rates of the trees Moss the Earth gets stuff done it's why I'm proud to say that I've been working with them recently and I encourage you to become a member too to not only follow along with this project and others but it's a fun future rewarding across the world use the link in the comments or the description to let them know you came from leave curious okay now this one looks creepy this one looks kind of gross I'm going to touch it looks sticky oh it's so wet see why people get freaked out by Fungus fungus and the human body is not a nice thing fungus in nature on the other hand can be a nice thing if you know where to find it which I don't any um any amethyst receiver around here no no okay okay what about you what about you come on where are you see this is the time when I'll find it when I'm not properly looking for it I'll just there there it is look there no that's not it that's some other fungus now could this I think this is the one that I see repeatedly this one doesn't look quite as red but could this be my amethyst deceiver however it's a lot later in the year now or in the season now and it's just they've just gone to smush lost all the purpleness I think I might have to admit defeat I think I've run out of time so unfortunately yes I kind of did run out of time I mean I would love to have just given one week to try and find this fungus but the thing is even if I did I don't think I would have found it because I think I'm just a little bit too late in the season to see them to see them purple anyway maybe I did find them maybe I did maybe I didn't let me know if you know because I'm a little bit bummed out but I guess it's always next year to try and see them I hope you enjoyed this brief look into the magical world of mushrooms and what they can offer us for rewilding be sure to check out Mossy Earth because they do really really good work but until next time thanks for watching leave curious okay check this out I love this kind of thing right from this like tree this is completely falling in half you've got another Beach growing now I don't know whether if this has this is the other tree whether if one's just seated in there but you've also got a holly grown out there as well that's just so cool succession

Channel: Leave Curious

Views: 19,621

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Id: BfFMd1Vnwx8

Length: 10min 51sec (651 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 20 2022