Species name: Not specific
Scuzz is an organism that is made-up of a strange combination of fungi,
yeast, algae and bacteria. It lives on the needles of Douglas-fir
trees. Scuzz plays an enormous role in the temperate rain forest
ecosystem. The feces of small microscopic organisms, including aphids,
feed the Scuzz and encourage it to grow. In exchange, the Scuzz is
a food source for the aphids. The aphids are preyed upon by predacious
spiders, which also eat any other insects that might eat the needles of
the Douglas-fir tree. Thus, the Scuzz is protecting the tree from
herbivorous insects by supporting this food chain on top of Douglas-fir
needles. Some Scuzz also helps the plant out by producing natural
insecticides that deter herbivores. Other kinds of Scuzz convert
nitrogen that is in the air and not accessible to plants, into a form that
is available to plants- this is call nitrogen fixation.
