A recent study estimates that more than 13 billion metric tons of CO2 from terrestrial plants are passed on to mycorrhizal fungi each year, equivalent to about 36% of global fossil fuel emissions. The ...

It’s no secret that we rely on plants to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. Not only does that make it possible for us to breathe, it reduces the amount of the heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the ...

The understudied mycorrhizal fungi are vital to ecosystems and may prove critical to the survival of fragile deserts stressed by climate change. Though invisible on the surface of the desert, ...

Scientists made the first detailed global maps of mycorrhizal fungal networks by analyzing DNA from 25,000 soil samples worldwide, showing where these fungi that partner with most plants are most ...

Abundant worldwide, most fungi are inconspicuous because of the small size of their structures, and their cryptic lifestyles in soil or on dead matter. Fungi include symbionts of plants, animals, or ...

We unlock the science of the forest's underground network and reveal how trees use a fungal network to communicate.

This year’s recipient of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement talks about “punk science,” microbial economics and thinking like a mycorrhizal fungus.

Underground fungal networks are “living algorithms” that quietly help regulate Earth’s climate. Now scientists know what makes them so efficient. Underground fungal networks are “living algorithms” ...

Dr Toby Kiers has won the 2026 Tyler Prize award after shedding light on “overlooked” fungi that can offset huge amounts of ...

Mycorrhizal fungi form one of the most widespread and ancient symbiotic associations with land plants, underpinning critical ecosystem functions. Through intricate mutualistic relationships, these ...

What about creatures in the soil? Have they been affected by invasive species? Which species have gone extinct? Which ones are proliferating? It is important to think about soil as an invisible ...