Nutrient Recycling

As with other holobionts and sympoietic organisms, such as coral and lichen, biomass recycling is an important process for mycelium networks survival and growth. Aged mycelium is recycled by the network as much as possible and the nutrients from it broken down and redistributed. Fungi are generally known to be some of the world’s most prolific decomposers, using enzymes to breakdown dead matter and materials into nutrients. Nutrient cycling, consisting of breakdown, absorption and reabsorption, becomes a necessary and cyclical process, creating a more efficient flow of nutrients. These nutrients are then exchanged at what is akin to a plant-fungi marketplace where each deposits and trades what they need

The following set of ecological principles serve to guide the design and implementation of the Mycelium Fund. This experimental granting fund explores the possibilities of a self-distributing financing system and is informed by mechanisms of resource valuation and distribution found in ecological communities, particularly those deep beneath the ground.