Science Forums 2

[Michaelangelica]

All subsequent work has served to underpin the fundamental importance of the vast masses of soil micro-organisms in plant nutrition and growth, and particularly that of the mycorrhiza-forming soil fungi.

"It is well known that mycorrhizae can benefit the growth and health of plants, but it is not widely known or appreciated just how critical and normal this association is to the well-being of plants, especially in disturbed ecosystems" (Dr. Robert G. Linderman, USDA-ARS, Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory).

What also is not very widely known is how chemical fertilizers and pesticides can damage or even destroy the essential soil fungi, as well as the rest of the vast web of soil microlife so vital to soil and crop health. See what Dr. Elaine Ingham has to say about this.

What is the mycorrhizal association? Simply put, in a healthy soil plant roots are invaded by a friendly soil fungus; the fungus actually feeds the plant, and in return the plant feeds the fungus the products of the green leaf which the fungus is unable to make for itself. It is a very ancient and widespread arrangement, long overlooked after its initial discovery mainly because the plant pathologists of the time, with their orientation towards disease, saw the fungal invasion as a pest attack.

Long out of print, "Trees and Toadstools" by Dr. Rayner is an excellent introduction to the subject. With her husband and co-worker, Professor W. Neilson-Jones, she also wrote an account of the work with mycorrhizas at Wareham: "Problems in Tree Nutrition -- An account of researches concerned primarily with the mycorrhizal habit in relation to forestry and with some biological aspects of soil fertility" (Faber and Faber, 1944), also long out of print, though we hope eventually to add it to this library.

Trees and Toadstools - Introduction