Fuligo septica in my mulch... questions.

[toughcheesesmallpaws]

I have a question- I've found a few lovely (sarcastic) patches of Fuligo septica aka dog vomit slime. Let me start this with this is the first spring/summer owning a house, and the mulch was there before we got there and we've been debating on taking it out or just letting it rot down and throwing some into our composter.

I'm the kind of person who lets nature take her course and is fascinated with the myriad of fungi growing in my mulch. I don't use herbicides, pesticides or fungicides- I'm not cool with chemicals in my lawn because my dog eats the grass all the time and I want to walk around barefoot. My husband and I like to go outside and look at our volunteer plants in our yard (There are a ton of them too! We've only planted a few but the woman who owned the house years ago was really into perennials and despite the woman who botched up the gardens, they're coming back with a vengeance- a plus for us).

Back on topic- so I've been trolling websites ever since I've figured out the name of this slime mold and every body is going on about removing the fugly mess. What I want to know is how beneficial is it to my yard? There's always someone in the replies going on about 'No! Don't get rid of it, it has some benefits' but they never list any. I'm curious as to what exactly it does, will it help out my plants, and will it help decompose this darned mulch? I'm aware it's not toxic to anyone but may give my husband's sinuses a bit of a fuss.

If it has some good benefits I'm quite content letting it run it's course. Sure it's ugly, but so is that mulch.

[Sage Hermit]

Its interesting what it does. It can chelate metals. Spell check seems to have a problem with that word. ^^