Source: Mycorrhizal fungi hold CO2 equivalent to a third of global fossil fuel emissions

Mycorrhizal fungi hold CO2 equivalent to a third of global fossil fuel emissions

by Liz Kimbrough on 13 June 2023

• 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 study highlights the overlooked role of mycorrhizal fungi in storing and transporting carbon underground through their extensive fungal networks
• Researchers analyzed nearly 200 data sets from various studies that traced carbon flow and found that plants allocate between 1% and 13% of their carbon to mycorrhizal fungi.
• Understanding the role of mycorrhizal fungi is essential for conservation and restoration efforts, as soil degradation and the disruption of soil communities pose significant threats to ecosystems and plant productivity.

Plants and fungi struck a deal way back when. More than 400 million years ago, plants began trading sugar made from sunlight (a.k.a. carbon) for some of the soil nutrients gathered by mycorrhizal fungi. Nearly 90% of all land plants are now part of this arrangement, so scientists estimated that the amounts of carbon flowing through underground fungi must be significant. However, they didn’t realize how much carbon was in the system until now.

According to a recently published study in Current Biology, more than 13 billion metric tons of CO2 is passed from plants to mycorrhizal fungi each year — equivalent to around 36% of all annual global fossil fuel emissions.