Passages And multiple fungi can colonize the roots of all or most of the trees in a forest. The hyphae, those threadlike strings of cells that are the fungus, function as pathways for shuttling nutrients water, and organic compounds around the forest. The mycologist Paul Stamets believes that mycorrhizal fungi function as a giant communications network between multiple trees in a forest-he calls it "nature's Internet." Others have described this linkage as the "architecture of the wood wide web." Weaker plants areable to tap into this network, too, like hitchhikers on a nutritional superhighway . Young seedlings struggling to grow in the shadow of established trees tap into the larger, older tree's fungal network to improve their nutritional uptake. This network exists to benefit not only established trees and seedlings of the same species but also trees from different species and at different stages of development. So one multitasking fungus, its hyphae attached to the roots of multiple trees in the forest, can simultaneously provide a different nutritional load as needed to different trees. It's a couture service. The old trees in a forest function as hubs for these mycellal networks."like spokes of a wheel; said Suzanne Simard, a professor of forestry at the University of British Columbia who studies mycorrhizae. Rhizomorphs tropes of hyphae)connect the foundation tree withother trees-like an express stop on a subway system where lots of local trains come through-and the bigger the tree the larger the hub That's because the largest trees have the greatest root system, and the more roots there are the more realestate there is for the fungus to colonize. "In one The main idea of the fourth paragraph (highlighted)is that: A networks of fungi benefit different species of trees at various A levels of development. B young seedings typically tap into the roots of trees that are the same species as the seedlings. C established trees genetically alter fungal networks to benefit different species of trees. different species of trees can be identified based on their nutritinnalintake