How Do Fungi Keep the Planet Healthy?

Mycorrhizal fungi form intimate, long-standing partnerships with over 80% of Earth’s plant species, a relationship that evolved around 450 million years ago.

These fungi, whose name comes from the Greek words for fungus (myco) and root (rhizal), act as an extension of plant roots by supplying essential minerals like phosphorus and nitrogen, which they extract from rocks and soil.

In return, plants provide fungi with sugars and fats produced through photosynthesis.

This exchange is so fundamental that fungi essentially served as plant root systems for tens of millions of years before roots evolved as a distinct plant feature.

The partnership is one of the oldest and most widespread biological collaborations, underpinning terrestrial ecosystems today.