Nutrients that reach the soil are leeched out by the rain but fungi are connected to tree roots by their underground filaments and by quickly consuming the dead they help to recycle crucial minerals straight back into the trees. And this recycling happens faster here than anywhere else on the planet. There are thought to be nearly a million different types of fungi in the tropics. The vast majority still unknown to science, but one thing's for certain. Without fungi, rainforests could not exist. Nothing goes to waste in the rainforest. The fungi become food for others like these beetle larvae. Finding the fungus isn't a problem for the grubs since their caring parents actually show them the way.


雨水冲走了进入土壤的营养物质，但真菌凭借着它们在地下的丝状体与树根连接在一起，通过迅速耗光死树的养分把它们直接送回到活着的树中。这种再循环在这里进行的速度比地球上任何地方都要快。据认为热带有近一百万种不同的真菌，其中绝大多数都不为人们所了解。但有一点是肯定的，没有真菌雨林就不能存在。在雨林中一切都有用处，真菌成为其他动物，例如这些甲虫的幼虫的食粮。这些幼虫找到真菌并不特别困难，因为它们慈爱的双亲为它们指明了道路。