In the late spring/early summer, shoots of smooth cordgrass( Spartina alterniflora) that flowered in the previous year are nearing collapse, and have nothing left standing except the naked, true stem (see the stem in my periwinkle image), often with a layer or two of leaf-sheath remnants (see Newell et al, 1998, Aquat Bot 60:325-335). (Note: the word "culm" is often used to refer to the whole leaf-sheath+true stem central part of the shoot, but "culm" is actually just a botanical synonym for "stem".) If one breaks open such a standing-decaying stem, one finds good, qualitative evidence that fungi are major decomposers of cordgrass shoots. The hyphal webs of fungi seen in this image within the stem centers are not always visible; often insect larvae (flies, beetles) bore into the stem centers and eat it along with the decayed stem tissue. The insect bore-holes also allow entry of other detritivores (amphipods, etc.). See Newell & Porter, 2000, pp. 159-185 in Weinstein & Kreeger, Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology, Kluwer.