Mycorrhizal fungi live in cooperation with plants, offering nutrients, water and protection from pests in exchange for carbon-rich sugars. New research shows that this single group of fungi may be playing a bigger role in storing carbon than we thought.
In fact, these microscopic filaments take up the equivalent of more than a third of the world’s annual carbon emissions from fossil fuels – every year.
In our search for ways to slow or stop the climate crisis, we need to look down into our soils.
Mycorrhizal fungi thread networks of microscopic filaments through the soil and into the roots of almost every plant on earth. This is not new, they have been partnering with plants for more than 400 million years.
By studying almost 200 datasets, the researchers estimate the world’s plants are transferring a staggering 3.58 billion tonnes of carbon per year into this underground network. That is equivalent to 13.12 billion tonnes of CO2 – more than one third of the world’s 36.3 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted yearly by burning fossil fuels.
Make note, fungal carbon doesn’t present a climate solution by itself. It is however a missing piece in the carbon cycle puzzle.
When these fungi die, they leave behing “necromass” – a complex structure of dead organic material which can be stored in soil, and often inside clumps of soil particles. In fact, some studies suggest this fungal necromass may contribute more to the carbon content of soil than living fungi.
When we clear forests or land, we not only disrupt life above the ground, but underground as well. We need to protect these hidden fungal networks which give our plants resilience – and play a key role in the carbon cycle.
When we better understand how these fungi work and what we’re doing to them, we can also develop farming methods which preserve them and their carbon.
https://phys.org/news/2023-06-hidden-carbon-fungi-necromass-absorb.html