mycorrhizae network exposed to light?

Hey y’all! I spread some old mulch today that had some serious mycorrhizae networks going on in the lower layers of the mulch. Once exposed to light, it turned pink and I know it will probably die. Is there anything bad that could come to my plot from the death of the mycorrhizae? Is it a lost cause or should I go tomorrow and put leaves over it to save it?

You want to save the mycorrhizae?  i believe i read recently that it is fairly fragile but i would imagine some of it would survive.

However.... just a suspicion... because it happened to me before..... might this "mycorrhizae" not be fungus?   if it looks like filaments and long threads.... then it probably is mycorrhizae.   But if it looks compact... maybe granular a little.  it maybe some anaerobic bacteria growing in the high nitrogen compact compost area.

spreading some leaves over won't hurt mycorrhizae and dead mycorrhizae won't hurt your soil.  SO... you are okay... but the fungus may or may not be.  Don't sweat it.  But yeah... covering it next time is a good step too.

I suspect. That you are seeing mycelium, not mycorrhizae since mycorrhizae are found wrapped around or inside roots. The color change is due to UV exposure, and you can reverse this by covering and wetting the cover material.

Healthy soil will have mycelium throughout and plant roots will have mycorrhizae that form synapses similar to nerve synapses in function which connect the mycelium and mycorrhizae allowing both communication and bacterial movement with purpose.

Redhawk

Man! I wish I could find what it exactly was. Some parts were slimy masses and other parts were long white strings with long white capsules. Can’t find anything similar online. Maybe I’ll take a picture later today.
Thank you for your replies

Most likely the "slimy" parts are slime molds, these seem to accompany many of the mycelium species, working in a simbotic relationship that speeds up the growth rate of the fungi. SCG are a good way to encourage slime molds to grow where you want these interactions.

Redhawk