Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello there, I'm hoping to receive a response from a Mycologist regarding my science fair project. How long would it take for wood-decay fungi to decompose a dead/decaying plant? Thank you.

Hello Leah,

Welcome to Scibuddies. I will be happy to try and help you with your fungal project. Have you made a hypothesis to guide your experiment plan? That is certainly the first step in developing a project. My next big question would be how much time do you have before your project is due? Mycelia are good decomposers of plant biomass, but they are not particularly speedy at it, so if you only have a few weeks then this kind of project might not work.

There are multiple factors that affect the speed of fungal decomposition--type of fungus, type of biomass, temperature, moisture and nutrients. I live in a cold climate where temperatures in winter frequently drop into the single digits F. Wood does not decay very fast here. Logs can survive many years in spite of fungal invasion. I have a compost pile, which is mostly bacterial and bacteria are usually quicker at digesting plant matter than fungi, and the pile takes a year to completely break down.

I can help you if you will provide more details about the project and your timeline. You would not necessarily have to take it to the endpoint of total decomposition. You could measure changes with time or growth rate of the mycelium under different conditions and get some good data in a relatively short time.

Post again with an explanation of your hypothesis and potential experiments you are thinking of and we can go from there.

Best wishes,
Sybee