Without the recycling activities of fungi, the world’s ecosystems would soon run out of nutrients. Plants without their fungal mycorrhizal partners to deliver water and nutrients, would not be able to grow and food would quickly become depleted.

 

Some fungi are also pathogens - of plants, humans, frogs, bats, soft coral, bees - and in certain cases are causing widespread decline of animal or plant populations.  In humans, certain fungi can cause invasive infections which contribute to high death rates in individuals suffering from AIDS and cancer, and others can cause irritating infections of our skin. They can even poison us.

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However, few fungi actually cause a nuisance to the healthy individual.  And, without fungi, animals and plants could not - and would not - exist.