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What is the purpose of being poisonous and is not being poisonous a relative weakness? (piefed.blahaj.zone)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
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Edit: looking at all the elaborate replies, I cannot help being amazed. Here I thought the Fedi is overrepresented by computer geeks (such as yours truly) but obviously they've got NOTHING on the biologically inclined here! ๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿ˜

If poisonous mushrooms are poisonous because it is advantageous for the survival of the specific species, are non poisonous mushroom relatively speaking weaker, less well equipped for the furthering of their species? I suppose that the ability to survive and further a species is multifaceted and that being poisonous or the lack thereof is just one of many parameters?

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[โ€“] 14 points 2 days ago* (1 child)

I would argue that every species alive today evidently found a strategy that works, otherwise they wouldn't be here.

Perhaps some mushrooms actually rely on being eaten somehow. Or perhaps being poisonous comes with downsides, so it isn't purely an advantage.

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  • [โ€“] 2 points 2 days ago*

    apparently gastropods, slugs and snails eat them without ill effect, maybe some insects. mushroom spread through thier spores, either through the wind, or rain. uncommonly some are parasitic on insects.

    also mushroom isnt th whole organism anyways, its just the fruiting body. its the filaments in the ground that are mycohrrizae to other plants, like grasses,other plants and trees. so they can just grow new mushroom every now and then. also mycorhyzzie is veyr complex, it helps draw minerals, water from the ground that feeds the plants its roots it attached to, and the plants provide sugars that feed the fungi in return. also the fungi increase the trees, plants overall health and fitness from disease and growth and pests. and you if map out the connections of the fungi in the ground its attached to multiple different plants at once so they are practically sharing one "bowl" of sorts for nutrients. the mushroom is just the reproductive feature, the true organism is the filaments.

    also fun fact, since fungi love moisture they usually grow mushrooms right after a rainy day, makes it easier to spread the spores.

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