The fungus among us

More than a third of the world’s current greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels go through underground networks of fungi, according to a new peer-reviewed study in Current Biology.

That’s a whopping 13 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.

Mycorrhizal fungi act as a symbiotic partner of plants, seeking out nutrients and bringing them back to the plants’ roots. In return, they accept carbon in the form of carbohydrates—which they then lock away in the structure of the fungi. This symbiotic relationship is nothing new to scientists; what’s surprising is the magnitude of carbon stored.

But how permanent is this sink? And what can we do to support fungi as a nature-based climate solution?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Dr. Heidi-Jayne Hawkins, lead author of the new paper and research director at Conservation South Africa. 

They cover topics like:

The evolutionary history of mycorrhizal fungi 

The mechanics of fungal carbon storage, which boosts carbon storage by 5-20% more than plants alone

What we can do to support conditions for fungi to absorb carbon

Open questions about the permanence of the storage

Recommended Resources:

Current Biology: Mycorrhizal mycelium as a global carbon pool

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