The ecology of Dune... & Detritus

[ZenBossanova]

One of the all time great books of Science Fiction is Dune. But one thing about it bugged me. There were there giant sand worms (awesome) but there was nothing for them to eat. There was no photosynthesis at all. Perhaps it was explained in later books, but in the first book, it was quite unexplained. 

I worry that Detritus is going to be similar. The planet is covered with fungi (awesome) but what are those fungi eating? How does that ecosystem work? What eats what, and how does the base of the ecosystem grow? 

For that matter, are they orbiting a star? Even that is not clear. 

[+Invocation]

Frank Herbert and Brandon Sanderson are massively different authors. Sanderson likes to root his stuff more and delve into the minute details (or he leaves stuff unsolved for good reason, like teasing something) so we'll probably eventually get more details on the fungus and stuff.

They are orbiting a star, though. They can't see it because of the debris everywhere (hence the glowlights underneath the debris that mimic the light of their star) but there is a star.

[ZenBossanova]

It is entirely plausible there is a star, but there are plenty of rogue planets out there, completely unattached to any star. If there are enough lights to light the planet, there could be enough to warm it was well. 

Though I expect you are still right @Invocation

[Snorkel]

On 02/12/2018 at 2:32 PM, ZenBossanova said:

I worry that Detritus is going to be similar. The planet is covered with fungi (awesome) but what are those fungi eating?

Bug poop!  And the bugs eat dead rats!

[king of nowhere]

actually, the ecosystem needs some form of energy input to recicle matter.

I expect the surface to not be completely barren, but to have stuff like grass and moss around, where it doesn't get too many debris. anything bigger won't have the time to grow, but grass and moss are very hardy.

those vegetables could then feed an insectile population (insects are also hard to destroy), which may die in the caves, feeding the fungi.

still, there are too many fungi for natural explanations. real deep caves are lifeless (except for bacteria).

[cubelith]

They don't need a star, geothermal energy could be enough, for life as well (and there is a geothermal powerplant mentioned). It can last for a long time, because of nuclear processes in the planet's, well, nucleus. And the funghi could be eating some kind of organic residue in the rocks if there is a star (almost everything could've died because of the shells). Maybe they simply process simple semi-organic (that's not actually a thing) components from the rocks, as far as I remember Earth had carbohydrates before life