Fungal Soil Architecture

The dense infiltration of fungal mycelium into soils stitch the soil together preventing erosion. However, mycelium is an obligate heterotroph. This mycelial webbing can only exist in the presence of perennial plants as a carbon source for the mycelium's food.

It's not the plants that hold the majority of the soils together. They just provide the food for that which does. Cover crops not only armor the top of the soil, they armor the inside as well.