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| This fungal individual makes lots of complex structures, on which microbes live. So do you. |
A human is an ecosystem. It consists of a
multicellular animal that that provides the gross structure of the human, and a
community of microbes that live in and on that structure. A human, unlike a
lichen, generally cannot photosynthesize.
We usually see humans as
individuals, but lichens as ecosystems. In the last few
years some scientists have advocating deep thought about humans as
ecosystems. There has been very little deep thought about lichens as individuals.
