Scientists on a quest to map worldwide web of fungi beneath our feet

[UngulateNerd92]

• Interconnected bodies of fungi form vast underground networks through the Earth’s soils, transporting nutrients and water across ecosystems and sequestering vast amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere.
• Experts agree that protecting fungi and focusing conservation efforts belowground could help to mitigate global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, land use change and pollution.
• A new initiative is embarking on the first global effort to document and map the world’s network-forming fungi, using eDNA and machine learning to identify and protect global hotspots of fungal biodiversity.
• Fungi are increasingly viewed as a nature-based solution to manage global carbon budgets, restore degraded ecosystems, remediate contaminated soils and speed the transition toward sustainable agriculture.

Fungi account for around half of the living organisms in our soils, yet we tend to only notice them when a conspicuous mushroom or toadstool pops up and draws our eye. Meanwhile, scientists estimate that just below out feet, trillions of miles of fungal networks permeate the soil, transporting water and nutrients across the planet’s ecosystems and drawing carbon below ground.

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...-worldwide-web-of-fungi-beneath-our-feet/amp/