Mycorrhizal fungi perform indispensable ecological functions, acting as the planet’s biological circulatory systems. These subterranean organisms cycle essential nutrients, store vast amounts of carbon, support optimal plant health, and actively manufacture and maintain healthy soils. When human activities or environmental degradation disrupt these critical ecosystem engineers, forest regeneration slows down significantly, agricultural crops fail, and biodiversity above ground begins to unravel.
Dr. Toby Kiers, executive director of SPUN, emphasized the foundational role these organisms have played in the history of life on Earth. Approximately 450 million years ago, there were no plants on land, and it was entirely because of these mycorrhizal fungal networks that early plants were able to colonize the planet and eventually support human life. Maintaining healthy fungal networks directly translates to greater agricultural productivity, more vibrant flora, and natural protection for plants against harmful pathogens.
To map these hidden networks, scientists analyzed more than 2.8 billion fungal sequences gathered from 130 countries. This massive dataset enabled researchers to construct high-resolution, predictive biodiversity maps illustrating the distribution of the planet’s underground mycorrhizal fungal communities. For centuries, humanity has meticulously mapped mountains, forests, and oceanic trenches, yet these critical fungi have remained largely in the dark, hidden beneath the surface despite their extraordinary contributions to sustaining life on land. This research marks the first time scientists have been able to visualize these complex underground biodiversity patterns at a global scale, providing undeniable proof that current conservation frameworks are failing to safeguard subterranean ecosystems.
The research represents the first large-scale scientific application of SPUN’s ambitious world-mapping initiative launched in 2021. Mycorrhizal fungi play a massive role in regulating global ecosystems and the Earth’s climate by forming vast underground networks that supply essential nutrients to plants while drawing more than 13 billion tons of carbon annually into the soil. This captured volume accounts for roughly one-third of global fossil fuel emissions. Despite their central role as planetary conduits for carbon and nutrients, mycorrhizal fungi have historically been overlooked in mainstream climate change strategies, international conservation agendas, and ecological restoration efforts. This omission is particularly problematic because the disruption of these delicate networks actively accelerates both climate change and global biodiversity loss.
The newly published findings reveal that a mere 9.5 percent of global fungal biodiversity hotspots are situated inside existing protected areas. Dr. Merlin Sheldrake, impact director at SPUN, noted that humanity has suffered from "fungus blindness" for far too long, and that these new maps help alleviate that oversight while assisting society in meeting the urgent environmental challenges of the modern era.
The maps are designed to serve as practical resources for decision-makers working across policy, law, and climate and conservation initiatives. Conservation groups, academic researchers, and governmental policymakers can utilize the digital platform to pinpoint biodiversity hotspots, prioritize environmental interventions, and better inform the designation of new protected areas. Furthermore, the tool enables leaders to search for underground ecosystems that are predicted to house unique, endemic fungal communities, thereby exploring viable opportunities to establish dedicated underground conservation corridors.
Dr. Michael Van Nuland, lead data scientist at SPUN and lead author of the study, stressed that these maps are far more than mere scientific tools; they are essential instruments capable of guiding the future of global conservation. Food security, stable water cycles, and overarching climate resilience all rely heavily on safeguarding these unseen underground ecosystems. The study has drawn support from prominent advisors across the environmental sector, including renowned conservationist Jane Goodall, authors Paul Hawken and Michael Pollan, and Fungi Foundation founder Giuliana Furci. Jason Cremerius, chief strategy officer at SPUN, stated that the ultimate goal is to ensure underground biodiversity becomes just as fundamental to environmental decision-making as satellite imagery is today.
These high-resolution maps will also prove vital in leveraging fungi to restore and regenerate degraded ecosystems around the globe. Historically, ecological restoration practices have been dangerously incomplete because conservationists focused almost exclusively on life visible aboveground. Dr. Alex Wegmann, a lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy, noted that these new maps provide concrete, quantitative targets for restoration managers, helping them establish what diverse, healthy mycorrhizal communities could and should look like in specific regions.
The ongoing effort to map the planet’s fungi is supported by an international network of 96 "Underground Explorers" hailing from nearly 80 countries, alongside more than 400 collaborating scientists. These teams are actively sampling some of the most remote and hard-to-access underground ecosystems on Earth, including challenging terrains in Bhutan, Mongolia, Ukraine, and Pakistan. Although only a fraction of a percent of the planet’s surface has been sampled so far, SPUN’s comprehensive dataset already encompasses more than 40,000 specimens representing an estimated 95,000 mycorrhizal fungal taxa.
As research continues to illuminate the hidden mechanics of the Earth’s subterranean realms, scientists emphasize that these findings clearly expose the immense value of what stands to be lost if humanity fails to extend legal protections and focused conservation strategies to the underground world.
