INVASIVE AND PARASITIC FUNGI SPECIES

success as a producer of nuts, and a valuable source of wood that provided a faster rate of growth than oak trees.

Cordyceps

Daniel W, Year 9 writes...

From cloaking lush forest surfaces with blooming caps brushed with vivid colours, to sprouting networks of fuzzy threads of mycelium spanning the soil, fungi of many varieties flourish in numerous systems. However, some fungi species illustrate malicious behaviour to neighbouring plants and even creatures.

Cryphonectria Parasitica

Responsible for Chestnut blight, the fungus locates a vulnerable chestnut tree that possesses a wound, which it can enter and develop mycelium as a cavity of dead tissue forms that can surround and eliminate protruding branches. The infected bark then bears a mass of orange bumps that disperse spores in the air to infect more chestnut trees. The spread of the disease can be influenced by factors such as the high air temperature, humidity and the water content of bark.

While the fungus is native to Eastern Asia, its unintentional introduction to North America in the twentieth century led to the severe disruption of the chestnut tree population, with an impact of 4 billion casualties. Another wave infection occurred in Europe, from Italy, to initially devastating results around 1938. However, surviving trees were observed to inherit a Hypovirus which impedes fungus growth and permits recovery. While this has been used to control chestnut blight in European countries, efforts in North America received limited success due to the Hypovirus relying on a narrow variation between fungi.

Overall, Cryphnectria Parasitica cost the US a tree that found

Cordyceps is a parasitic species of fungus that is well known for its ability to influence the behaviour of insects. When the fungus comes into contact with a host, it will physically bond itself to it and begin infiltrating the insect’s body. It produces chemicals in its circulatory system that alter its behavioural patterns, which navigates it to a relatively high area such as the stem of plant. Achieving maximum altitude, it will bind itself with the mandibles to anchor itself to its fixed position, while the fungus severs the connection between its muscles of the dying insect. The fungus then continues to inhabit the corpse and grow mycelium until it sprouts on the exterior. Finally, it develops fruiting bodies from the ruptured head to release its spores.

The fungus’ sinister tactics have caused its primary hosts, ants, to adapt and abandon the infected members away from their colony to prevent further exposure to spores.

Tommy S, Year 9 writes...

Over ten years ago, a tsunami triggered a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant on Japan’s east coast. After the accident, large amounts of radioactivity contaminated the ocean leading to a forced marine exclusion zone and huge reputational damage to the regional fishing industry.

Huge volumes of contaminated water have accumulated on the site since. Water was needed to cool the damaged reactors and groundwater that became contaminated, as it infiltrated the site, had to be pumped out and stored. Over 1,000 tanks have been built on site to store over a million tonnes of radioactive water. Yet the site is running