Could the humble mushroom help save us from climate change?

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

The humble mushroom could save the planet, say scientists.

Fungi stores more than a third of carbon from fossil fuel emissions, according to new research.

It opens the door to reaching net zero.

The vast network of roots - known as mycelia - is more effective at absorbing greenhouse gases than solar panels.

It's been supporting life on land for at least 450 million years and is found on every continent - even forming beneath roads, gardens and houses.

Mycorrhizal fungi hold up to 36 percent of annual global fossil fuel emissions below ground - more than spews out from China each year.

Co-author Professor Katie Field, of Sheffield University, said: "It represents a blind spot in carbon modeling, conservation, and restoration.

"The numbers we've uncovered are jaw-dropping. When we're thinking about solutions for climate we should also be thinking about what we can harness that exists already.

"Soil ecosystems are being destroyed at an alarming rate through agriculture, development and other industry.

"But the wider impacts of disruption of soil communities are poorly understood.

"When we disrupt the ancient life support systems in the soil we sabotage our efforts to limit global heating and undermine the ecosystems on which we depend.

“More needs to be done to protect these underground networks - we already knew they were essential for biodiversity. Now we've even more evidence they are crucial to the health of our planet."

They 'glue' soil together - holding up to 30,000 times their own mass in water and nutrients.

The largest known organism on the planet is a 2,000-year-old fungal mat that stretches over 2,000 acres across Oregon.

Mycelium produces jewel-like mushrooms that come in countless shapes, sizes and colors - such as pink, yellow and turquoise.

Lead author Dr. Heidi Hawkins, of Cape Town University, said: "We always suspected we may have been overlooking a major carbon pool.

"Understandably much focus has been placed on protecting and restoring forests as a natural way to mitigate climate change.

"But little attention has been paid to the fate of the vast amounts of carbon dioxide that are moved from the atmosphere during photosynthesis by those plants and sent below ground to mycorrhizal fungi.

"A major gap in our knowledge is the permanence of carbon within mycorrhizal structures.

"We do know that it is a flux, with some being retained in mycorrhizal structures while the fungus lives - and even after it dies.

"Some will be decomposed into small carbon molecules and from there either bind to particles in the soil - or even be reused by plants.

"And certainly some carbon will be lost as carbon dioxide gas during respiration by other microbes or the fungus itself."

The international team pooled data from hundreds of studies on plant-soil processes.

They calculated more than 13 gigatons of CO2 is transferred from plants to fungi annually - turning soil beneath our feet into the biggest carbon sink in the world.

It offers a solution to the global warming crisis - and needs consideration in biodiversity and conservation policies, said the researchers.

The UN warns 90 percent of soils could be degraded by 2050 - potentially catastrophic for stemming rising temperatures and increasing the productivity of crops and plants.

It has implications for feeding the world. The global population will reach 10 billion in the next three decades.

Mycelium has been described as 'nature's internet'. It can also produce antibiotics powerful enough to prevent diseases and pandemics.

The researchers are now investigating how long carbon is stored by the fungi and are seeking to further explore how it boosts ecosystems.

Senior author Professor Toby Kiers, from Vrije University in Amsterdam and co-founder of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, said: "The paper is part of a global push to understand the role fungi play.

"We know mycorrhizal fungi are vitally important 'engineers' - but they are invisible to most people.

"Mycorrhizal fungi lie at the base of the food webs that support much of life on Earth but we are just starting to understand how they actually work. There's still so much to learn."

The long-term aim of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is to stop global temperature rising by more than 2°C by the end of the century.

It will require zero emissions and the removal of carbon dioxide - with mushrooms possibly playing a vital part.

Mycelium is easily and quickly produced by growing mushrooms. Another ambitious use is space travel.

The network is adept at creating soil and can tolerate and even thrive on radiation - meaning it could be used on missions to colonize other worlds.

The study is in the journal Current Biology.