Networked Care

Based on changing conditions, Mycorrhizal fungi networks re-distribute resources to areas based on greatest need and in oscillating, tide-like fluxes. The network works to balance out gradients of inequality, responding to high variations in resources across the network by (1) increasing the total amount of phosphorus distributed to host roots, (2) decreasing allocation to storage, and (3) moving resources within the network from resource rich to poor patches. During these nutrient exchanges or “trades”, the fungi will over-contribute in the trade with the plant, accepting less in return, in resource-poor areas, while in resource-rich areas, will under-contribute in the trade with plants, accepting more in return. The fungi network also facilitates the same mutualistic trade dynamics between plants by acting as a messenger and transport route. Paper birch trees will seasonally send carbon (food) to nearby Douglas-fir trees and their seedlings to aid their growth and survival when they are shaded by taller plants. This trade is made without asking for anything in returns at the time, however in the Spring and Fall, as the Paper Birch lose their leaves and therefore cannot photosynthesize, the Douglas Firs will return the favour by sending nutrients through the network. Before modern day currency, gift economies were dominant in societies that maintained enough internal trust to sustain them. These economies also mimicked these mycelial trade processes that are made with the knowledge that supporting another’s health would also protect our own and through non-linear trades, with asks or needs being met without expectation of the favour being returned immediately, but at some point in a future time of need.