Some species of fungi can store exceptional levels of carbon underground, preventing it from heating up the Earth's atmosphere. Others help plants survive brutal droughts or fight off pests. They are "levers" to address the hazards of a warming climate, and yet they remain a mystery
The biologists Toby Kiers, left, and Merlin Sheldrake take soil samples along the coast of Chaihuin, in Chile, on April 15, 2022. Kiers and her team of researchers are probing a vast and poorly understood universe of underground fungi that can be vital, in her view, in the era of climate change. Image: Tomas Munita/The New York Times
ALERCE COSTERO NATIONAL PARK, Chile — Toby Kiers took long strides across the spongy forest floor, felt the adrenaline rush in her veins and stopped at precisely the spot she had traveled so far to reach. Into the ground went a hollow metal cylinder. Out came a scoop of soil.
Kiers stuck her nose into the dirt, inhaled its scent, imagined what secrets it contained to help us live on a hotter planet. “What’s under here?” she asked. “What mysteries are we going to unveil?”
The soil was deposited into a clear plastic bag, then labeled with the coordinates of this exact location on Earth.
Kiers, 45, an evolutionary biologist based at the Free University of Amsterdam, is on a novel mission. She is probing a vast and poorly understood universe of underground fungi that can be vital, in her view, in the era of climate change.
Some species of fungi can store exceptional levels of carbon underground, keeping it out of the air and preventing it from heating up the Earth’s atmosphere. Others help plants survive brutal droughts or fight off pests. There are those especially good at feeding nutrients to crops, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.
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