Now, to the dismay of Pacific Northwest loggers, so does the northern spotted owl. Just last month, however, Nature magazine declared a giant 38-acre armillaria bulbosa fungus in Michigan the world's largest organism. Although most of the fungus lives underground, its surface signs include tree rot and edible mushrooms. Scientists estimate this huge fungus at somewhere between 400 and 1,000 years old. The Endangered Species Act is crafted in a way that puts even unique organisms within an ecosystem beyond protection.
Extinction is the key word.
Only if a species is threatened with extinction do we step in. The act doesn't address issues of size, uniqueness or importance to man. But the size of the organism, the way it has woven itself into the very fabric of its ecosystem over centuries, raises the issue of whether this fungus should merit the same sort of protection given to snail darters and spotted owls. It opens up the question of what an 'individual' is' it upsets our easy views of plants and animals. Indeed, Blomquist stressed that while much attention has been focused on individual species, the real issue now has to be ensuring the preservation of the ecological habitats that house these species.