Interactions

          Morchella esculenta have the potential to interact with many organisms in their habitat since they have such a large and vast home range (Mihail et al. 2007). Interactions where one organism can be defined as more dominant over another organism can be defined as one being the predator and one the prey. Morels can cover both of these roles to a certain extent (Harbin & Volk 1999).

           M. esculenta are known to decompose trees that live among them, such as elm trees, ash trees (Briggs 2010) or apple trees. This might seem like the morel preying on the tree, and it technically can be viewed that way on an energy pyramid, but this idea is controversial. Many see this as predation because only the mushroom benefits from this interaction (Harbin & Volk 1999). The tree is preyed upon and broken down, while the mushroom gets the nutrients it needs to grow; however, the tree is already dead so it is ultimately classified as a decomposer.

           On the other hand, morels have to look out for predators such as animalia that consume them. M. esculenta are tasty and full of nutrition, so not only do animals that live in the forest among them want to eat them, but humans hunt them as well (Dahlstrom et al. 2000).

         Some animals that live in the forest among M. esculenta that seem to interact the most with this mushroom are deer, squirrels, and elk. There are other decomposers in the area as well that help break down dead materials or dung, such as Aleochara bilineata and Phanaeus vindex.

           As stated above, these organisms consume M. esculenta for nutritional benefits, just as we do. Unfortunately, they may not always be a good food source in the near future. Morels have been a topic of discussion in the science field lately. This is due to the fact that populations seem to be declining in the wild (Emery & Barron 2010; Wiita & Wurtz 2004). Human contact with this mushroom seems to be the cause of their decline, but further investigation is necessary in order to prove this (Wiita & Wurtz 2004).

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