Posted on 06/13/2026 11:37:44 AM PDT by BenLurkin
These subterranean structures, called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks, work in partnership with most of the world's land plants, feeding plants nitrogen and phosphorus in return for their carbon. Now, the first global map of this fungal network has revealed where their intricate branching structures are most densely packed.
In grasslands that are high-altitude or flooded grasslands, such as the Everglades in Florida, the top 6 inches (15 centimeters) of soil are especially dense, containing around 40% of the global fungal biomass.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are made up of tiny branching threads called hyphae. These hyphal networks form two-way pipes to channel nutrients and carbon to and from plants, respectively. As a result, the fungi gobble up vast amounts of carbon. One estimate found they take in around 4.3 billion tons (3.9 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide equivalent each year, representing roughly 11% of global fossil fuel emissions in 2021.
The researchers found that there is an average hyphal density of 237 feet per cubic inch (4.4 meters per cubic cm) in land topsoil. If all hyphae were laid out in a straight line, the researchers estimated they would span approximately 68 quadrillion miles (110 quadrillion km). That's nearly a billion times the distance of Earth to the sun, or around 10% the width of the Milky Way galaxy.
Wild grasslands had the highest density, at 355 feet per cubic inch (6.6 meters per cubic cm), while cultivated trees had the lowest, at 204 feet per cubic inch (3.8 meters per cubic cm). Although the team could not specify which agricultural practices had the greatest impact on hyphal density, fungicides and phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers could explain the relative sparsity in cropland topsoil...
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
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The fungus among us.
Interesting
More than just water and nutrients. My elder daughter did her PhD in a tripartite symbiosis between Mortierella fungi, bacteria, and Arabidopsis.
Should I be concerned?!
In before the fun guy jokes
But Gus the gardener’s left now and you went with him, too
The fungus there reminds me of the fun Gus is having with you
Now the rockery’s a mockery, with weeds it’s overgrown
The fuchsia’s gone, I couldn’t face the fuchsia all alone
And my tears fell like raindrops from the sky above
And poisoned all the flowers in my Garden of Love
-Benny Hill
My toes are hooked into that.
“10% of the Milky Way”???
There’s a single honey mushroom plant (”plant” is the wrong word, but I use it for clarity) in Oregon that spans more than 2200 acres (3.5 sq.mi.). It’s the largest living organism on earth with low estimates of its weight at 7500 tons.
Unfortunately, they’re parasitic and will kill any of a number of commercially valuable trees if they attach to them.
https://thatoregonlife.com/2020/01/largest-organism-humongous-fungus/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria_ostoyae#Distribution_and_habitat
Gotta be one of the dumbest headlines I have ever seen, designed to capture someone’s attention on fungi.
“while cultivated trees had the lowest, at 204 feet per cubic inch (3.8 meters per cubic cm).” Trees drink water.
This might explain my jock itch problem.
just wait until they figure out that it is sentient, but like trees just lives on a much slower time scale.
then I die I will be buried sans box in the woods so I can be absorbed into the collective.
if you eat enough of certain types of mushrooms you can communicate with them, and they desire for you to join them or just feed, not sure which...
What, if laid end to end?
***********************************************************
Preposterous.
Gay black guys in Star Trek use it to travel around the universe.
I believe scientists:
on covid, on covid vaccines, on globe bull warming, on all this CRAP.
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