The
underground

fungi
networks
that
help
sustain
Earth’s

ecosystems
are
in
need
of
urgent

conservation
action,
according
to
researchers
from
the
Society
for
the
Protection
of
Underground
Networks
(SPUN).

The
scientists
found
that
90
percent
of
mycorrhizal
fungi

biodiversity
hotspots
were
located
in
unprotected
ecosystems,
the
loss
of
which
could
lead
to
lower

carbon
emissions
reduction
rates,
crop
productivity
and
reduce
the
resilience
of
ecosystems
to

climate
extremes.

Mycorrhizal
fungi
“cycle
nutrients,
store
carbon,
support

plant
health,
and
make

soil.
When
we
disrupt
these
critical
ecosystem
engineers,

forest
regeneration
slows,
crops
fail
and
biodiversity
above
ground
begins
to
unravel…
450m
years
ago,
there
were
no

plants
on
Earth
and
it
was
because
of
these
mycorrhizal
fungal
networks
that
plants
colonised
the
planet
and
began
supporting
human
life,”
said
Executive
Director
of
SPUN

Dr.
Toby
Kiers,
as
The
Guardian
reported.
“If
we
have
healthy
fungal
networks,
then
we
will
have
greater
agricultural
productivity,
bigger
and
beautiful
flowers,
and
can
protect
plants
against
pathogens.”

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

[image
or
embed]

—
Society
for
the
Protection
of
Underground
Networks
(SPUN)
(@spun.earth)

July
25,
2025
at
4:21
AM

Using
over

2.8
billion
fungal
sequences
from
130
countries,
the
scientists
were
able
to
create
high-resolution,
predictive
biodiversity

maps
of
the
planet’s
underground
mycorrhizal
fungal
communities.

“For
centuries,
we’ve
mapped
mountains,
forests,
and
oceans.
But
these
fungi
have
remained
in
the
dark,
despite
the
extraordinary
ways
they
sustain
life
on
land,”
Kiers
said
in
a
press
release
from
SPUN.
“This
is
the
first
time
we’re
able
to
visualize
these
biodiversity
patterns
—
and
it’s
clear
we
are
failing
to
protect
underground
ecosystems.”

The
research
was
the
first
time
a
scientific
application
of
SPUN’s
2021
world
mapping
initiative
was
done
on
a
large
scale.



Map
from
SPUN’s
Underground
Atlas
shows
predicted
arbuscular
mycorrhizal
biodiversity
patterns
across
underground
ecosystems.
Bright
colors
indicate
higher
richness
and
endemism.
SPUN

Mycorrhizal
fungi
help
regulate
the
world’s
ecosystems
and
climate
by
forming
underground
networks
through
which
they
provide
essential
nutrients
to
plants
and
draw
more
than
13
billion
tons
of
carbon
annually
into
soils
—
roughly
a
third
of
global
fossil
fuel
emissions.

“Despite
their
key
role
as
planetary
circulatory
systems
for
carbon
and
nutrients,
mycorrhizal
fungi
have
been
overlooked
in
climate
change
strategies,
conservation
agendas,
and

restoration
efforts,”
the
press
release
said.
“This
is
problematic
because
disruption
of
networks
accelerates

climate
change
and
biodiversity
loss.”

Just
9.5
percent
of
fungal
biodiversity
hotspots
are
found
inside
existing

protected
areas.

“For
too
long,
we’ve
overlooked

mycorrhizal
fungi.
These
maps
help
alleviate
our
fungus
blindness
and
can
assist
us
as
we
rise
to
the
urgent
challenges
of
our
times,”
said
Dr.
Merlin
Sheldrake,
impact
director
at
SPUN.

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…
[image
or
embed]—
Society
for
the
Protection
of
Underground
Networks
(SPUN)
(@spun.earth)
July
25,
2025
at
6:33
AM

SPUN
was
launched
with
the
aim
of
mapping
fungal
communities
to
develop
resources
for
decision-makers
in
policy,
law
and
climate
and
conservation
initiatives.

“Conservation
groups,
researchers,
and
policymakers
can
use
the
platform
to
identify
biodiversity
hotspots,
prioritize
interventions,
and
inform
protected
area
designations.
The
tool
enables
decision-makers
to
search
for
underground
ecosystems
predicted
to
house
unique,
endemic
fungal
communities
and
explore
opportunities
to
establish
underground
conservation
corridors,”
SPUN
said.

The

findings
of
the
study,
“Global
hotspots
of
mycorrhizal
fungal
richness
are
poorly
protected,”
were
published
in
the
journal

Nature.

“These
maps
are
more
than

scientific
tools
—
they
can
help
guide
the
future
of
conservation,”
said
lead
author
of
the
study
Dr.
Michael
Van
Nuland,
lead
data
scientist
at
SPUN.
“Food
security,
water
cycles,
and
climate
resilience
all
depend
on
safeguarding
these
underground
ecosystems.”

Prominent
advisors
to
the
work
include
conservationist
Jane
Goodall,
authors
Paul
Hawken
and
Michael
Pollan,
and
founder
of
the
Fungi
Foundation
Giuliana
Furci.

“The
idea
is
to
ensure
underground
biodiversity
becomes
as
fundamental
to
environmental
decision-making
as
satellite
imagery,”
said
Jason
Cremerius,
SPUN’s
chief
strategy
officer.

The
maps
will
be
crucial
in
leveraging
fungi
for
the
regeneration
of
degraded
ecosystems.

“Restoration
practices
have
been
dangerously
incomplete
because
the
focus
has
historically
been
on
life
aboveground,”
said
Dr.
Alex
Wegmann,
a
lead
scientist
at
The
Nature
Conservancy.
“These
high-resolution
maps
provide
quantitative
targets
for
restoration
managers
to
establish
what
diverse
mycorrhizal
communities
could
and
should
look
like.”

The
international
network
of
96
“Underground
Explorers”
from
nearly
80
countries
and
more
than
400
scientists
are
currently
sampling
the
most
remote
and
hard-to-access
underground
ecosystems
on
Earth,
including
those
in
Bhutan,
Mongolia,
Ukraine
and
Pakistan.

While
just
0.001
percent
of
the
surface
of
our
planet
has
been
sampled,
SPUN’s
dataset
already
includes
more
than
40,000
specimens
representing
95,000
mycorrhizal
fungal
taxa.

“These
maps
reveal
what
we
stand
to
lose
if
we
fail
to
protect
the
underground,”
Kiers
said.