‘fungi stool’ BY satoshi itasaka

In an effort to learn more about natural decomposers such as fungi and bacteria, Japanese designer Satoshi Itasaka unveils the ‘Fungi Stool’. As its title suggests, the stainless steel and wood stool is composed of fungi that grow and bloom, like flowers, into mushrooms.

‘It is no exaggeration to say that the cycles of nature are carried out by bacteria and fungi,’ Itasaka notes. ‘Bacteria and fungi have been the decomposers in the food chain keeping the earth’s environment in a healthy state. They are the ones we should follow for we are constantly putting a burden on the earth in terms of the global environment.’

Preserving fungi decomposers

Satoshi Itasaka’s Fungi Stool highlights the importance of preserving fungi decomposers as they play a crucial role in our ecosystem. It also proposes a more sustainable direction to furniture design. Its seat is made up of a circle of six discs that somewhat resemble mushroom caps huddled next to each other.

‘There are about 100 trillion bacteria in our bodies’, the product designer explains. ‘Therefore, we live in symbiosis with about three times as many bacteria as our own cells. Although we are sometimes tormented by bacteria, the environment in which we live would not be possible without decomposers such as fungi and bacteria. The world is in the midst of a sanitization boom, but I designed a device to learn more about these decomposers, not to get rid of them. I found that the fungi grew unexpectedly in that apparatus. The fungi grew and blossomed like flowers, producing numerous beautiful mushrooms.’

Source: Designboom

A team of Western mycologists (fungi experts) spent the past two summers digging deep in Newfoundland dirt to investigate the might of mushrooms and found what lies beneath truly is 'the main character' in most terrestrial ecosystems.

Fungi, which produce mushrooms, are critically important in most earthbound ecosystems as they provide life-sustaining mineral nutrients to plants while decomposing their remains, and recycling both organic and inorganic byproducts throughout the biome as they grow and reproduce.

"A lot of ecologists are beginning to realize that mushrooms really run the world. We've quite naturally spent a lot of our time focusing on things above ground, things that we see like plants, animals, and birds," said Western biology professor Greg Thorn. "But in fact, the plants are very closely associated with fungi, and basically wouldn't be there (above ground) without them."

Please read the full article here.

Source: Phys.org provided by University of Western Ontario

Fungi that decompose plant matter may keep ecosystems healthy, especially after drought

The red, orange, and spotted mushrooms that sprout up after it rains are doing more than adding color to the landscape. The fungi that produce them could be keeping the natural world productive and stable, according to a new study. Indeed, they may be critical to the health of Earth’s ecosystems, says Matthias Rillig, a soil ecologist at the Free University Berlin who was not involved with the work.

Please read the full article here.
Author of article: Elizabeth Pennisi
Source: Science