Mycorrhizas for a changing world: Sustainability, conservation, and society

Abstract

Societal Impact Statement Mycorrhizal fungi are of huge significance for plants, people, and the planet. In addition to the fruiting bodies of many mycorrhizal fungi having great culinary, medical, and sometimes religious significance, by forming partnerships with the vast majority of land plants, mycorrhizal fungi are essential in the formation and functioning of global ecosystems. As such, mycorrhizas have great potential for future exploitation and management to facilitate a variety of sustainability programs in agriculture, conservation, and restoration, considerations that are particularly relevant during this time of global change and widespread depletion of natural resources. Summary Mycorrhizal fungi, of all types, hold huge significance for our planet and society. By forming mutualistic symbioses with the vast majority of land plants, mycorrhizas play an essential role in the formation and maintenance of global ecosystems. They also have great potential for exploitation to facilitate a variety of sustainability programs in agriculture, conservation, and restoration, particularly relevant in the context of global climate change and depletion of natural resources. As such, in addition to the fruiting bodies of many mycorrhiza‐forming fungal species being delicious, mycorrhizal symbioses are of critical and increasingly appreciated importance to human society. This editorial provides an overview of the relevance and potential roles of mycorrhizal fungi toward achieving global goals in sustainability, conservation and their significance within society, and highlights key directions for future research.

The state of the world’s urban ecosystems: What can we learn from trees, fungi, and bees?

“…Ensuring these urban greenspaces endure is in large part dependent on healthy trees and in turn their belowground (e.g., mycorrhizas) and aboveground (e.g., pollinators) interactions. Fungi are overlooked in some assessments of biodiversity decline (e.g., in Díaz et al, 2018, 2019; Field, Daniel, Johnson, & Helgason, 2020) so here we highlight their essential function for trees and importance for urban ecosystems. Pollinators, on the other hand, have captured the public imagination and their ecological function is well understood by non‐experts.…”

Can arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi speed up carbon sequestration by enhanced weathering?

“…If negative effects of conventional agricultural practices on AM fungi can be ameliorated, agricultural systems may be the ideal systems to practice EW, as they offer the opportunity to manipulate e.g., plant species and variety, tillage, or fertilization rate and type, all of which are known to strongly affect AM fungal performance (e.g. Field et al., 2020). While densities on par with natural systems may not be reached, the tractability of man‐made agricultural systems can help tune weathering rates and AM fungal activities in ways impossible in other ecosystems, once we know the important gears to turn.…”

Carbon for nutrient exchange between Lycopodiella inundata and Mucoromycotina fine root endophytes is unresponsive to high atmospheric CO2

“…By forming mutualistic symbioses with the vast majority of plants, including economically important crops, mycorrhizal fungi have great potential for applications within a variety of sustainable management strategies in agriculture, conservation and restoration. Application of diverse mycorrhiza-forming fungi, including both AMF and MFRE, to promote sustainability in agricultural systems is particularly relevant in the context of global climate change and depletion of natural resources (Field et al 2020 ). The MFRE in particular may hold potential for agricultural applications to reduce use of chemical fertilisers within sustainable arable systems where routine over-use of N-based mineral fertilisers causes detrimental environmental and down-stream economic impacts (Thirkell et al 2019 ), but realising this potential relies on improving our current understanding of MFRE diversity and function.…”