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

📢The Global Soil Biodiversity Conference 2026 abstract submission deadline is in TWO WEEKS 🐛🐜🕷️🦠🪱 Abstracts are NOW due AUGUST 15th 23:59 PDT‼️ Submit an abstract 👇 globalsoilbiodiversity2026.org/abstract/

Can plant biodiversity predict underground fungal diversity? New study published in Nature Communications finds only 8.8% of arbuscular mycorrhizal and 1.5% of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity hotspots overlap with plant hotspots. Link to paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵

Where are Earth’s mycorrhizal biodiversity hotspots? Read the explainer article by SPUN's Michael Van Nuland and Jason Cremerius to find out more about our research and what's next: www.spun.earth/underground-...

Fungal networks have remained in the dark, despite the extraordinary ways they sustain life on land and they need urgent protection. Read the article by Taro Kaneko in the @theguardian.com here: www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

📣 GSBI's latest blog has just been published 🎉 In this blog, Dr. Laura Van Galen discusses the mystery of dark taxa in ectomycorrhizal fungi 🍄 Read it here 👇 www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath...

2.8 billion mycorrhizal DNA sequences, 130 countries, one global map. Explore Underground Atlas at buff.ly/ovvwQ7W and watch our full-length explainer on YouTube for a behind the scenes look into our research: buff.ly/FEvCQwm

SPUN is featured in @science.org in a piece written by @humbertobasilio.bsky.social. Learn where some of the most unique fungal communities exist, such as West Africa’s Guinean forests, Tasmania’s temperate rainforests, and Brazil’s Cerrado savanna. Read here: www.science.org/content/arti...

Excited to get these data into the hands of decision makers.

Our aim is to help map Earths mycorrhizal communities and develop concrete resources for use in conservation, policy, agriculture & climate action. Introducing Underground Atlas—a global tool revealing mycorrhizal diversity and endemism at a 1km² scale. Help share & explore the maps: buff.ly/ovvwQ7W

There’s Fungus Among Us. But Where Exactly? To find out where the Amazon of the underground actually is, read about our research in this new article by @emilyanthes.bsky.social for @nytimes.com and explore our Underground Atlas. Article: buff.ly/qNdVAxa Underground Atlas: buff.ly/mqkz5XL

More than 90% of mycorrhizal biodiversity hotspots are located in unprotected areas. Thank you @wyattmyskow.bsky.social and @insideclimatenews.org for featuring this research and sharing Underground Atlas.

Who lives underground? Find out now in our new paper published in @nature.com. Key finding: 90% of predicted mycorrhizal biodiversity hotspots lie outside protected areas. Read here: buff.ly/WmDqAP3 🧵

More deep soil work with SPUN's Daniela León & partners from AGROSAVIA, who traveled to Colombia's Eastern Plains to identify what fungal communities exist in deep soil layers of agricultural land & explore how deep soil carbon stocks offer greater resilience against disturbances. 📷 Gabriel Ramírez

We know most animals don’t cross the Wallace Line. Not even those with wings. But what about fungi? Underground Explorer Helbert Lim is studying the influence of the Wallace on fungal dispersal, with the potential of recording new species.

Great to see this and thanks for highlighting our study, led by @laura-vangalen.bsky.social in this article.

Beneath the desert's surface, mycorrhizal fungi enhance water and nutrient uptake for plants. Jinsu Elhance and @thecrobe.bsky.social explore how fungi aid saguaros in facing climate change and invasive species in this new article by @wyattmyskow.bsky.social in @insideclimatenews.org buff.ly/Om4BO3Z

Imagine seeing the world through the eyes of the underground. Opening today at the @nhm-london.bsky.social, the 360° experience Our Story with David Attenborough. Watch the floor come to life, inspired by visuals of mycorrhizal networks and book your tickets here: buff.ly/Yp6SNHq 🧵

One more month to submit your abstract to the Global Soil Biodiversity Conference 2026.

Find out why SPUN scientists @camilletruong.bsky.social and @laura-vangalen.bsky.social are desperate to know more about dark taxa in this new article by Daniel Graham, featured on BBC Magazine's Discover Wildlife: www.discoverwildlife.com/environment/...

⚠️ Rising sea levels and salt intrusion are disrupting essential fungi linked to pines, jeopardizing South Florida's ecosystem. Read more about this research from U of Florida: buff.ly/ATSoWC1 Authors: Elena Karlsen-Ayala, @majusino.bsky.social, Matthew E. Smith, Romina Gazis. 📸 Elena Karlsen-Ayala

Have you ever heard of the term “dark taxa”? Published in @currentbiology.bsky.social‬, a new study reveals an astonishing 83% of ectomycorrhizal #fungi are classified as dark taxa, existing only through their DNA sequences and eluding formal classification. 🧵

Most fungi in Madagascar remain a mystery and one of few Malagasy mycologists, Underground Explorer Dr. Anna Ralaiveloarisoa, is working alongside Kew Madagascar and PBZT, to urgently catalog fungal communities before they vanish.

Join SPUN's @thecrobe.bsky.social and a panel of experts at La Ferme Digitale on June 17th. #LFDay2025 www.lfday.fr/fr/session/f...

SPECIAL FOCUS: MYCORRHIZAL NETWORKS besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/13652435...

Have you ever seen a perfect circle of mushrooms and wondered how it got there? These mysterious formations are known as fungal fairy rings, once believed to be "portals to other worlds." Read more in IMA Fungus here: buff.ly/V3wkK35 📷 Wiki Commons

Healthy soil fosters a thriving ecosystem. In Mexico, nearly 45% of land has degraded soils and we lack sufficient data. Underground Explorer Roberto Garibay, alongside UNAM experts, are working on the Atlas of Mexico’s Soil Biodiversity to enhance research, education, and outreach efforts.

Wind is the primary force driving fungal spore dispersal, yet it's often overlooked in studies of fungal communities. Read more in this new paper, published in Ecology Letters by Dr. Michael Van Nuland and @claraqin.bsky.social. buff.ly/Edo30cg

What fungi live deep in the Earth’s grassland soils? We joined @hhwalter.bsky.social in Manu National Park in Peru to sample mycorrhizal fungi in high-altitude grasslands. This project with Fungi Foundation explores how deep soil fungi help regulate the Earth's carbon cycle. 🌍 #BiodiversityDay