Tundra Fungi

Every acre of Arctic tundra contains more than two tons of live fungi; a birch forest in interior Alaska contains well over a ton. Thus, fungi constitute a substantial component of plant life in the north, as elsewhere. Completely lacking in chlorophyll, fungi survive by feeding on other organic materials. By decomposing dead trees and plants, fungi play a crucial role in maintaining soil fertility.

Hundreds of thousands of different fungi exist. We are familiar with those that form blue and green molds on oranges, cheeses and lemons and the white, grey or black furry outgrowths on bread, meat or jam left in damp places. The mushrooms of the meadows and forests and the beautiful displays of Amanita, Boletus and Russula--the so-called toadstools--are fungi. Fungi are the principal agents in the fermentation of wine and beer, ripening of cheeses, the production of antibiotics like penicillin and industrial production of vitamins and citric acid.

Scientists at the University's Institute of Arctic Biology are trying to learn the characteristics of tundra and forest fungi that allow them to live in cold soils and to release nitrogen and phosphorus as they decompose organic remains. Being a crucial component of life in the tundra, it is important that the resistance of fungi to oil spills or other environmental perturbations be known. If the stability of the fungi is undermined, an entire forest or tundra grazing land can be destroyed.

The next time you are in the forest or tundra, bend down and look closely. Better yet, put your ear to the ground and listen to the fungi grow. If you happen upon a person who remains long in this position--posterior up, ear down--you probably have just met a mycologist; mycology is that branch of science dealing with fungi.