Fungus is Among Us...and Making it Rain!

FineArtAmerica.com:  Mushroom releasing its spores 

              There are billions of fungi spores drifting in the wind, invisible to the human eye. Researchers now believe that these spores could be assist in cloud formation above the fungi, resulting in rainfall. this in turn forms a positive feedback loop, where the additional rain helps the mushrooms to propel more spores up into the atmosphere, and thus induce more rain. The spores are discharged from the underside of the mushroom, area known  as the gills. A drop of fluid called Buller's drop accumulates over the spor surface (Hasset et al, 2015). Once the spore is airborne, the fluid evaporates. This can cause a positive loop where the spore creates the clouds, which lead to rain, which lead to more nutrients for the mushroom, which result in more mushroom that produce more spores to create clouds. I think that California should invest in more mushroom!

By: Bezait Anbesse

Hassett MO, Fischer MWF, Money NP (2015) Mushroom as Rainmakers: How Spores Act as Nuclei for Raindrops. PLoS ONE 10(10): e0140407. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140407