Re: [compost_tea] Some fungi info

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 06:10:07 -0500

Please note that the elevated CO2 being talked about in this paper (see reference given below by a list serve contributor) is an effect ON THE TREE, not the fungus.

One piece of mythology out in the scientific world is that elevated CO2 will increase plant growth. The logic goes like this: If plants fix more CO2, they will increase sugar production, then there will be more sugars released from the roots, and thus more food for the fungi growing on the roots.

But, what is the limiting factor for most plant growth? What keeps your plants from growing more fruit, right now? Is it a lack of CO2?

No, it's a lack of nitrogen, or calcium, or iron, or some other micronutrient. Elevating CO2 doesn't increase plant production.

UNLESS...... you add excess nitrogen to the experiemtnal units, as was done in the research cited here, I believe.

So, if we continue to over-fertilize the world, as we are doing right now, and continue to destroy water-quality, as we are doing right now, then elevated CO2, as we are doing right now, will result in increased plant production.

Except, how many of you are seeing this?

Do you realize that you are paying more per gallon of drinking water, since the stuff coming out of the tap is no longer drinkable in most places, than you pay for gasoline? People go nuts when the price of gas goes up by ten cents.

But you are paying what per gallon of drinking water? When did this one slip by? Sorry, I'm heading off on a different tack, back to the original idea....

Given the logic of more CO2, more foods in the roots, then more O2 in the atmosphere means less CO2 getting to the plant surface, so less sugar for the fungi.

Except, it just doesn't work like that. Plants only use 20 minutes of sunlight out of each hour of sunlight they receive, based on some work by the folks at the Duke Phytotron (sorry, don't have the reference at hand). So, if plants don't get "enough" CO2 in the first 20 minutes, they can accumulate for the next few minutes and get what they need to make sugar, protein, etc. The limiting factor in plant production is N, or some other nutrient, not CO2.

This is the reference being considered in the contributor's post:
> http://www.co2science.org/journal/1999/v2n11b5.htm
>
> The above article seems to state that elevated CO2 rates promote fungal growth and elevated O2 rates inhibit fungal
> spread.

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
SFI Corvallis, OR
SFI Port Jefferson, NY
SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
www.soilfoodweb.com

 

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Received on Mon Dec 22 2003 - 10:43:51 EST

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