First global map reveals the true scale of Earth's underground fungal networks
Scientists have produced the first global map of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi that connect most of the world's plant roots. Published in the journal Science, the study estimates these underground networks stretch roughly 110 quadrillion kilometres and move billions of tons of
An international research team has mapped the global density and biomass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks for the first time, in a study published in Science. Laid end to end, the fungal threads would stretch about 110 quadrillion kilometres, nearly a billion times the distance from Earth to the sun, with a combined mass of around 300 megatons of carbon. The fungi trade nutrients with about 70 percent of plant species and move roughly 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide into soils each year. Built from more than 16,000 soil samples and machine-learning models, the map shows large farmland areas carrying about half the network density of wild land, raising concerns for soil health, food security and climate.