What is Mycorrhiza Fungi, and why is this important?

Simply stated soil has a life of its own!  In healthy soil, plants enjoy mutually-beneficial relationships with many other organisims, many of which are microscopic, and all these biological elements - plant roots, fungi, bacteria, earthworms, and other life forms - play some role in the lives of the others.  Over millions of years, mycorrhizal fungi and plants have formed a mutual dependence.  The fungi are nourished by root exudates and in return bring great amounts of soil nutrients and moisutre to thier host plants.  A mycorrhizal plant can uptake 100 times more nutrients than one without the beneficial fungi.

Wikipedia's Explaination

What are Beneficial Microorganisims?

Mycorrhizae and Soil Structure

Ted St. John, Ph.D.

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Mycorrhizae can produce better plant growth and otherwise be of benefit to individual plants, but perhaps the most important reasons to inoculate may have to do with effects on the plant community and the soil.  Structure is one of the most important qualities of a soil, and is perhaps the crucial difference between soil and "dirt".  The tiniest soil particles attach themselves to each other, and those clumps cling to each other, on up through a size hierarchy of soil aggregates.  The aggregates define pore space that is vital for movement of water, air, soil animals, and for the growth of roots.  Soil aggregates are held together by different forces at different size scales.  In the smallest sizes ionic forces dominate, then bacterial polysaccharides take over in somewhat larger aggregates.  In the size range that is readily visible in soil, mycorrhizal fungi play the central role.  They produce a glycoprotein called "glomalin", named after the group of fungi that form endomycorrhizae.  You can find a great deal of information on the internet by performing a search for the word "glomalin". 

Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Nutrition

M. Habte

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The term “mycorrhiza” was coined by A. B. Frank, a scientist in Germany, more than 100 years ago. It literally means fungus-root, and describes the mutualistic association existing between a group of soil fungi and higher plants. The association is based on the plant component providing carbohydrates and other essential organic compounds to the fungi. In return, the fungal component, which colonizes both the root and the adjacent soil, helps the plant take up nutrients by extending the reach of its root system.  Although mycorrhizal associations were discovered over 100 years ago, their role in plant productivity did not receive the attention it should until the past 30 years.  Today, hundreds of scientists all over the world are engaged in the study of mycorrhizal associations, and any discussion of plant productivity that does not include mycorrhizal associations can hardly be considered complete.