MSGID: 1:317/3 647eb687   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   essential to reaching net zero, new study reveals    
    Researchers are now calling for fungi to be considered more heavily in   
   conservation and biodiversity policies, and are investigating whether we can   
   increase how much carbon the soil underneath us can hold    
      
     Date:   
         June 5, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Sheffield   
     Summary:   
         Mycorrhizal fungi are responsible for holding up to 36 per cent   
         of yearly global fossil fuel emissions below ground -- more than   
         China emits each year.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Fungi stores a third of carbon from fossil fuel emissions and could be   
   essential to reaching net zero, new study reveals.   
      
       * Mycorrhizal fungi are responsible for holding up to 36 per cent   
       of yearly   
         global fossil fuel emissions below ground - more than China emits   
         each year   
       * The fungi make up a vast underground network all over the planet   
         underneath grasslands and forests, as well as roads, gardens,   
         and houses on every continent on Earth   
       * It is not only crucial to storing carbon and keeping the planet   
       cooler,   
         but are also essential to global biodiversity   
       * Researchers are now calling for fungi to be considered more   
       heavily in   
         conservation and biodiversity policies, and are investigating   
         whether we can increase how much carbon the soil underneath us   
         can hold   
   The vast underground network of fungi beneath our feet stores over 13   
   gigatons of carbon around the world, roughly equivalent to 36 per cent   
   of yearly global fossil fuel emissions, according to new research.   
      
   It is widely believed that mycorrhizal fungi could store carbon, as   
   the fungi forms symbiotic relationships with almost all land plants   
   and transports carbon, converted into sugars and fats by the plant,   
   into soil, but until now the true extent of just how much carbon the   
   fungi were storing wasn't known.   
      
   The discovery by a team of scientists, including researchers from the   
   University of Sheffield, that fungi is storing over a third of the   
   carbon created from fossil fuel emissions each year indicates that it   
   could be crucial as nations seek to tackle climate change and reach net   
   zero. Work is now being undertaken to see whether we could increase how   
   much carbon the soil underneath us can store.   
      
   Mycorrhizal fungi have been supporting life on land for at least 450   
   million years and make up vast underground networks all around us - even   
   forming beneath roads, gardens, and houses, on every continent on Earth.   
      
   The international team of scientists, including experts from the   
   University of Sheffield's School of Biosciences, conducted a meta-analysis   
   of hundreds of studies looking at plant-soil processes to understand   
   how much carbon is being stored by the fungi on a global scale.   
      
   Their findings, published in Current Biology, revealed that an estimated   
   13.12 gigatons of CO2 is transferred from plants to the fungi annually,   
   transforming the soil beneath our feet to a massive carbon pool and the   
   most effective carbon capture storage unit in the world.   
      
   The amount of carbon stored equates to roughly 36 per cent of yearly   
   global fossil fuel emissions - more than China emits each year.   
      
   Researchers are now calling for fungi to be considered in biodiversity   
   and conservation policies, given its crucial role in cutting carbon   
   emissions. At the current rate, the UN warns that 90 per cent of soils   
   could be degraded by 2050, which could be catastrophic for not only   
   curbing climate change and rising temperatures, but for the productivity   
   of crops and plants too.   
      
   Professor Katie Field, Professor of Plant-Soil Processes at the   
   University of Sheffield and co-author of the study, said: "Mycorrhizal   
   fungi represent a blind spot in carbon modelling, conservation, and   
   restoration - the numbers we've uncovered are jaw-dropping, and when   
   we're thinking about solutions for climate we should also be thinking   
   about what we can harness that exists already.   
      
   "Soil ecosystems are being destroyed at an alarming rate through   
   agriculture, development and other industry, but the wider impacts of   
   disruption of soil communities are poorly understood. When we disrupt   
   the ancient life support systems in the soil, we sabotage our efforts   
   to limit global heating and undermine the ecosystems on which we depend.   
      
   "More needs to be done to protect these underground networks - we   
   already knew that they were essential for biodiversity, and now we have   
   even more evidence that they are crucial to the health of our planet."   
   The researchers are now investigating how long the carbon is stored by   
   the fungi in the soil, and are seeking to further explore the role that   
   fungi plays in Earth's ecosystems.   
      
   Dr Heidi Hawkins, lead author of the study from the University of Cape   
   Town, said: "We always suspected that we may have been overlooking a major   
   carbon pool. Understandably, much focus has been placed on protecting   
   and restoring forests as a natural way to mitigate climate change,   
   but little attention has been paid to the fate of the vast amounts of   
   carbon dioxide that are moved from the atmosphere during photosynthesis   
   by those plants and sent belowground to mycorrhizal fungi.   
      
   "A major gap in our knowledge is the permanence of carbon within   
   mycorrhizal structures. We do know that it is a flux, with some being   
   retained in mycorrhizal structures while the fungus lives, and even   
   after it dies. Some will be decomposed into small carbon molecules and   
   from there either bind to particles in the soil, or even be reused by   
   plants. And certainly, some carbon will be lost as carbon dioxide gas   
   during respiration by other microbes or the fungus itself."  Professor   
   Toby Kiers, senior author from Vrije University Amsterdam and co-   
   founder of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, said:   
   "The paper is part of a global push to understand the role that fungi   
   play in Earth's ecosystems. We know that mycorrhizal fungi are vitally   
   important ecosystem engineers, but they are invisible to most people.   
      
   "Mycorrhizal fungi lie at the base of the food webs that support much   
   of life on Earth, but we are just starting to understand how they   
   actually work.   
      
   There's still so much to learn."  One of the projects which is now   
   investigating the role of mycorrhizal fungi in soil carbon and other   
   nutrient cycles in more detail is being led by the University of   
   Sheffield's School of Biosciences. Using simulated future climates in   
   specialised outdoor field experiments, the NERC-funded study aims to   
   improve our understanding of the critical role of soil fungi, alongside   
   other microbes, in moving carbon belowground and how this will be impacted   
   by future climate change.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Fungus # Organic # Soil_Types   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Global_Warming # Geochemistry # Climate   
             o Science_&_Society   
                   # Environmental_Policies # Land_Management #   
                   Resource_Shortage   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Fossil_fuel o Truffle o Mushroom o Ethanol_fuel o Fungus o   
             Vegetation o Alcohol_fuel o Climate_change_mitigation   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Sheffield. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Heidi-Jayne Hawkins, Rachael I.M. Cargill, Michael E. Van Nuland,   
      Stephen   
         C. Hagen, Katie J. Field, Merlin Sheldrake, Nadejda   
         A. Soudzilovskaia, E.   
      
         Toby Kiers. Mycorrhizal mycelium as a global carbon pool. Current   
         Biology, 2023; 33 (11): R560 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.02.027   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230605181230.htm   
      
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