Animalia: EX

What would happen if a man-made disease, a super-virus, wiped all animals off the face of the planet? No mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, insect, or even an obscure invertebrate survives. How would earth cope without its most active kingdom of life?

1,000 Years
Nearly all flowering plants have perished due to a lack of pollinators, only those capable of wind pollination surviving. Some species of fungi, bacteria, archeae, and protists have perished from either a lack of hosts or the super-virus(It didn't just take out animals), but are otherwise staying strong. Plants took the hardest blow, suffering without animals doing things for them. The other kingdoms help continue the cycle of decay and growth by multiplying and growing in effieciency. The most successful so far are fungi and slime molds, growing everywhere plants grow. Slime molds are beginning to grow massive, some reaching half a ton before fruiting. They're also moving faster. You could see the motion of slime molds and fungi spreading their fingers and dissolving food if you were still alive. Fish ick is on the fast track as well, starting to grow with algae to make aquatic lichen.

Almost nothing grows in the deserts now. Only a few willows and some ironwoods have braved the Sonoran, Gobi, and Victorian deserts. The Sahara is now a true dust bowl, an endless expanse of sand. The good news is that it's started shrinking. With deforestation at an end, all biomes on earth are starting to thrive in a new way, the slow-but-steady way.