The Green Planet

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Narrator

When fungi have fed sufficiently, they develop their reproductive organs. (fungi stretching) (soft music) Each can produce literally billions of spores, the tiny particles that carry the species' genetic blueprint. Each spore, like this, has the potential to kill a tree. (soft dramatic music) The spores are so light they can be carried by the slightest air currents. (soft dramatic music) At least a billion float about every 10 square feet of rainforest. (soft music) Recently, it has been discovered that these spores do far more than just bring death and decay. They are, in fact, at the very center of the rainforest's life support system.