Earth’s Underground Networks of Fungi Need Urgent Protection, Say Researchers
July 23, 2025 | Source: The Guardian | by Taro Kaneko
The underground networks of fungi that underpin the planet’s ecosystems needs urgent conservation action by politicians, a research organisation has said.
Scientists from the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (Spun) have created the first high-resolution biodiversity maps of Earth’s underground mycorrhizal fungal ecosystems.
The research, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, found that 90% of the biodiverse hotspots of mycorrhizal fungi were in unprotected ecosystems. Loss of the ecosystems could lead to reductions in carbon drawdown, crop productivity and ecosystem resilience to climate extremes.
Mycorrhizal fungi have “remained in the dark, despite the extraordinary ways they sustain life on land”, said Dr Toby Kiers, the executive director of Spun.
“They cycle nutrients, store carbon, support plant health, and make soil. When we disrupt these critical ecosystem engineers, forest regeneration slows, crops fail and biodiversity above ground begins to unravel … 450m years ago, there were no plants on Earth and it was because of these mycorrhizal fungal networks that plants colonised the planet and began supporting human life.