Global map reveals Earth’s hidden fungal highways are densest beneath wild grasslands
TL;DR Summary
Researchers mapped the world’s underground mycorrhizal network, estimating about 68 quadrillion miles (110 quadrillion km) of fungal hyphae that connect around 70% of Earth’s plants. The network boosts plant access to water, nutrients, and soil carbon exchange, and it is densest under wild grasslands rather than rainforests. Farmland shows about half the density, highlighting how agricultural practices affect these hidden connections and offering new avenues for conservation and farming methods that protect this vast, climate-relevant web.
- A hidden fungal network longer than the distance to the Sun wraps the roots of 70% of Earth's plants, and the first global map finds it densest not under rainforests but wild grasslands Earth.com
- Our Hidden Fungal Networks Could Reach Beyond the Solar System Mother Jones
- There's an Astounding Amount of Fungi Beneath Our Feet Newser
- Nearly All Plants Depend on Tiny Underground Fungi. The Microbes' Vast Global Networks Were Just Mapped for the First Time Smithsonian Magazine
- Scientists just finished mapping the 110-quadrillion-mile network hiding under your feet Yahoo Creators
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