A year of mapping the world beneath our feet and advocating for the protection of underground fungal networks.

What Everyone Should Know About Fungi by Age 15 – the final fact⚡ 🔟 Soils are home to over half of all known species on Earth and mycorrhizal fungi make that diversity possible. Though unseen, they –create the hidden infrastructure of underground ecosystems. See the top 10 list (buff.ly/33Ov3UD).

As critical fungal hotspots disappear amid accelerating deforestation, mining, and land-use change, BBC Indonesia joined us in South Sulawesi to map the fungal diversity that may hold the key to future restoration. YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC9z... Article: www.bbc.com/indonesia/ar...

⏰ We’re hiring a Mycorrhizal Carbon Science Lead (Global / Remote) to guide and manage our climate and carbon research group. This role will set the direction for integrating fungal carbon science into broader conservation, climate, and restoration strategies. ➡️ Apply here: buff.ly/m5C7ni6

We need to make #worldsoilday more about the soils of THE WHOLE WORLD. Across African datasets, there are fewer than 5 mycorrhizal samples per 1 million square kilometers, making the continent 48 times less sampled than Europe. Today, we celebrate SPUN’s 38 Underground Explorers across Africa 🧵

SPUN is #hiring 👉 spun.bamboohr.com/careers We're looking to fill the following positions: 1. Fungal Molecular Ecologist 2. Designer 3. Communications Assistant Apply now and share with your networks 🌍 #Careers #Fungi #ScienceJobs #ScienceCommunication #Mycology

What Everyone Should Know About Fungi by Age 15 9️⃣ Mycorrhizal fungi are master soil engineers. They build the physical scaffolding for living soils, supporting agriculture, biodiversity, and carbon storage. See the top 10 list (buff.ly/33Ov3UD) and follow for new fungal facts.

We need a clear plan to meet the International Fungal Conservation Pledge. Fungi are essential to healthy soils and ecosystems — they cannot remain invisible in policy. #Biodiversity #NatureRecovery | @spun.earth

How does forest expansion impact the alpine ecosystems of the Himalayas? Underground Explorer Chandra Man Rai from @utahstate.bsky.social, is studying the impacts of these ecological and social changes to help guide sustainable conservation and management strategies.

What Everyone Should Know About Fungi by Age 15 8️⃣ Mycorrhizal fungi extend root systems up to 100 times their normal reach, enabling plants to access hard-to-reach nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen. See the top 10 list (www.spun.earth/articles/top...) and follow for new fungal facts.

Join us in welcoming Ida Auken and Sir Andrew Steer to SPUN’s Board of Directors. As #COP30 Brazil approaches, we are pleased to bring new expertise to our leadership team to help guide our climate and biodiversity strategies.

Learn about fungal superhighways and the microscopic interactions around the rhizosphere that support all life above ground. @thesoilpodcast.bsky.social @spun.earth open.spotify.com/episode/7fv7...

🇵🇪 We sampled for fungi through WATER, SOIL, and ROCK to better understand how deep soil fungi help regulate the carbon cycle with @tobykiers.bsky.social, Merlin Sheldrake, Fungi Foundation’s Giuliana Furci and collaborator Walter Huaraca 🇵🇪 Special thanks to Cosmo Sheldrake and Tomás Munita.

What Everyone Should Know About Fungi by Age 15 7️⃣ Mycorrhizal fungi help clean polluted soils by breaking down or immobilizing harmful substances. They act as filters, protecting groundwater & supporting healthier ecosystems. See the top 10 list (buff.ly/33Ov3UD) and follow for new fungal facts.

⏰ Call for Abstracts: Closing knowledge gaps in fungal biodiversity and its conservation. Join SPUN’s @catiacanteiro.bsky.social at the @worldbioforum.bsky.social 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. Deadline: November 18, 2026 Link: buff.ly/Xcn1SjZ 📷 Konstantinos Tsakalidis

With Merlin Sheldrake, @tobykiers.bsky.social, @hhwalter.bsky.social, & Fungi Foundation’s Giuliana Furci, we’re mapping deep soil fungi in the high-altitude grasslands of Peru. Special thanks to Cosmo Sheldrake, elders from the Q'ero and Ccorca communities and Miski Tours. 📸 Tomás Munita

SPUN Underground Explorers gather in Kathmandu for 7th conference on Mountains in the Changing World #MoChWo2025. Dr. Samina Sarwar, Dr. Shiva Devkota and Roshan Ojha came together and shared their groundbreaking fungal research, revealing how mycorrhizal networks sustain Himalayan ecosystems. 🔬🍄⛰️

Are the fungi in Colombia’s moorlands >3,000m different from those along lowland coasts? Underground Explorer Luis Salcedo and Thomas Reitz collected samples across ecoregions to uncover who lives belowground. These data will help close the tropical research gap & support conservation efforts.

6️⃣ Functioning like underground pumps, mycorrhizal fungi transport water from deep in the soil to plant roots. This adaptation is key for survival in arid conditions and helps plants withstand drought and water stress. See the top 10 list (buff.ly/33Ov3UD) and follow for new fungal facts.

A découvrir : L’atlas souterrain des champignons mis au point par le SPUN et accessible gratuitement en ligne tinyurl.com/2bar5kew @spun.earth #ScienceCQFD

Recently, we mapped endemic fungal networks in Zagori 🇬🇷 with @seanmaston.bsky.social, @vkokkoris.bsky.social and team. Vikos Gorge is a hotspot for endangered species, with underground systems supported by rock formations ~160 million yrs old. We're now returning to cover more ground.

Big congratulations to @spun.earth’s Toby Kiers on being awarded a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant! You may remember Toby from our 2024 selection FLORA FAUNA FUNGA. You can read the announcement here: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/arts/design/macarthur-foundation-2025-genius-grant-winners.html

Congrats to Executive Director @tobykiers.bsky.social on being named a 2025 #MacFellow by the MacArthur Foundation (buff.ly/HOU1qb7). Also called the “Genius Grant,” it’s one of the largest awards in the US, honoring exceptionally talented and creative individuals. Shout out to fellow awardees! 👏

🚨SPUN’S Biodiversity Conservation Strategist, @catiacanteiro.bsky.social will be at the #IUCNcongress presenting our latest mycorrhizal maps to conservation leaders. Schedule a meeting with Cátia: buff.ly/dy2amO3 Visit SPUN’s event page: buff.ly/aQ7L97Y

What Everyone Should Know About Fungi by Age 15 5️⃣ Mycorrhizal fungi are often first responders post wildfires, droughts, and human disturbances, helping plants regenerate, rebuild root systems & reestablish nutrient pathways. See the top 10 list (buff.ly/nMNaB60) and follow for new fungal facts.

We have an article about integrating fungi in policy lead by @catiacanteiro.bsky.social !! @spun.earth

This is a beautiful volume in the Current Biology magazine about Fungi with gorgeous illustrations! highly recommended 🧡 🍄🍄 🤩 www.currentconservation.org/issues/19-3/

How did North American and European fungi end up in Argentine forests? New research in @newphyt.bsky.social from UE @nahpo.bsky.social and @martin-nunez.bsky.social looks underground at how non-native tree species and their fungal partners have spread. Read here: buff.ly/919OOs0

What Everyone Should Know About Fungi by Age 15 4️⃣ Mycorrhizal fungi help draw down ~13 billion tons of carbon into the soil annually–nearly 1/3 of global emissions from fossil fuels. See the top 10 list (buff.ly/56WQ1oO) and follow for new fungal facts.

Led by SPUN's @adricorrales.bsky.social, we visited Huila, Colombia with -196°C liquid nitrogen to collect fungal RNA. RNA offers a look into the function of fungal genes, but it degrades quickly, so all samples had to be frozen immediately. Full field update from Colombia coming soon.

Fungal networks in the soil are arguably the basis of much of life on Earth, but they’re understudied and under-appreciated in the conservation world. Scientists at @spun.earth are trying to fix that. Listen in to @scifri.bsky.social episode to learn more 🎙️

👏🏾 A big shout out to @spun.earth and the Global Initiative of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment for sponsoring 9 students to attend our conference! Students who applied for our travel grants, check your email inbox. @thegsbi.bsky.social @lindolab.bsky.social @carlosbarreto.bsky.social

What Everyone Should Know About Fungi by Age 15 3️⃣ Mycorrhizal fungi underpin food production. Most crops we rely on depend on mycorrhizal fungi for nutrient absorption, access to water and protection from heavy metals. See the top 10 list (buff.ly/56WQ1oO) and follow for new fungal facts.

What Everyone Should Know About Fungi by Age 15 2️⃣ > 400 million years ago, mycorrhizal fungi enabled plants to transition from aquatic to terrestrial environments, making life on land possible. See the top 10 list (buff.ly/77S4PQF ) and follow for new fungal facts.

Our article "Ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with Tuber spp. Enhances host performances in Pinus and Carya and induces host-specific patterns in defense-related regulation in the leaf transcriptomes" has been published online in Mycorrhiza. Great job Xiaoping! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Ever sampled frozen soil before? 🧊 SPUN's Michael Van Nuland and Jinsu Elhance, with local collaborator @mmuscarella.bsky.social explored the coastal tundra plain before traveling to higher elevations in the Arctic foothill tundra finding new flowers, fungi & wildlife with the changing terrain.

What Everyone Should Know About Fungi by Age 15 1️⃣ Just one teaspoon of healthy soil can contain 100 meters of fungal hyphae. See the top 10 list (buff.ly/77S4PQF) and follow for new fungal facts.

Permafrost has long been a carbon sink, but what happens when the Arctic tundra thaws? SPUN's Jinsu Elhance and Michael Van Nuland traveled to Alaska, joining collaborator Mario Muscarella, to determine who is living belowground and how they can provide resilience in these ecosystems.

Over 70% of Earth's ecoregions have yet to be sampled for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. By analyzing eDNA sample locations, we found most soils are unsampled. Drylands are especially overlooked despite covering almost 1/3 of the Earth's terrestrial land. academic.oup.com/femsle/artic...

Can a forest be restored without fungi? Successful forest restoration relies not only on trees, but on their belowground fungal partners and our strategies need to reflect that. See the diagram providing guidelines to enhancing restoration success and read the full paper here: buff.ly/K5AHz0u

Why is everyone talking about mycorrhizal fungi? See illustrator Alex Boersma’s explainer diagram and learn more about mycorrhizal fungi here: www.spun.earth/networks/myc...

🎉 Registration for the 4th Global Soil Biodiversity Conference is now OPEN 🎉 Early bird registration is open until December 15th ,2025 🦜 Registration page 👇 globalsoilbiodiversity2026.org/registration/

What if the key to saving Britain’s rainforests is underground? 🍄🌲 In this Guardian feature, Kew PhD researcher David Satori journeys into Scotland's Ballachuan Hazelwood, uncovering the ancient fungal relationships that could guide future conservation and restoration efforts. 👉 lnkd.in/ebVWKydH

Magic mushrooms: how scientists discovered fungi are the secret ingredient for restoring the world’s forests

Are you interested in exploring fungal diversity patterns under your OWN feet? Watch our demo video: youtu.be/TQJsrei7UcI and learn how to explore our interactive map. We would love to hear from you. Do you have any questions about our maps, or feedback about our product, comment below.👇

After last week's storms, mushrooms are popping out throughout the Vosges range, revealing the vast underground networks that have been quietly working beneath our feet ... Red Cracking Bolete A moment of serendipity captured: Note the abundant spores trapped in the spider's web

Are fungi an underdog in the conservation world? @scifri.bsky.social host Flora Lichtman spoke to @adricorrales.bsky.social & Michael Van Nuland about the importance of fungal networks, underground biodiversity hotspots, and why they need protection. 🎧 buff.ly/su4o9vW 📷 Loreto Oyarte Gálvez

Our maps predicted the steppes of Kazakhstan as hotspots of fungal biodiversity. No samples had been collected to identify which mycorrhizal fungi exist there. @bethanfmanley.bsky.social and @thecrobe.bsky.social went to ground truth the prediction and New Humanist wrote about it: buff.ly/oIg3dDo

A database of AM fungi of Australia. Incredible resource and publication. Congrats to all the authors. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#Conservation maps miss #fungal hotspots by focusing on #plants ... | #biodiversity | #fungi | #ecosystems | #Mycorrhiza | By @spun.earth via @sciencex.bsky.social