idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Grafik: idw-Logo

idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft

Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instance:
Share on: 
11/07/2019 11:00

Plants and fungi together could slow climate change

Ansa Heyl Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

    A new global assessment shows that human impacts have greatly reduced plant-fungus symbioses, which play a key role in sequestering carbon in soils. Restoring these ecosystems could be one strategy to slow climate change.

    Human-induced transformations of Earth’s ecosystems have strongly affected distribution patterns of plant-fungus symbioses known as mycorrhiza. These changes have greatly reduced vegetation featuring a particular variety of mycorrhiza—ectomycorrhiza—a type of plant-fungal symbiosis crucially important for soil carbon storage. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that loss of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis has reduced the ability of these ecosystems to sequester carbon in soils.

    Most plant species form symbioses with various fungi, in which fungi provide plants with nutrients, while the plants provide carbon to the fungi. Previous research has shown that these relationships increase the potential of vegetation to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it in soils. However, because of the complexity of these relationships and multiple species involved, it has been difficult to estimate the global impact of such symbioses.

    The study is the first to provide a global accounting of the distribution of mycorrhizal vegetation across the planet along with estimates of their contribution to terrestrial carbon stocks. Even with the loss of mycorrhizal symbioses, the study finds, that ecosystems encompassing mycorrhizal vegetation store on the order of 350 gigatons of carbon globally, compared to just 29 gigatons stored in non-mycorrhizal vegetation.

    “Human activities such as agricultural practices have altered 50-75% of the Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems, transforming natural areas with previously strong carbon sequestering mycorrhizal plant-associations to much weaker relationships. By altering the plants that grow across much of the Earth’s surface from those with strong soil carbon storage to weak carbon storage we have potentially further contributed to increased atmospheric CO2,” says IIASA researcher Ian McCallum, a study coauthor.

    This study identifies a potential mechanism that could be used to decrease atmospheric CO2 via enhanced soil carbon storage. Restoring native vegetation that forms ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with soil fungi, especially in abandoned agricultural and barren land, the authors say, could help alleviate anthropogenic soil carbon losses and ameliorate increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases.

    “Among the pathways available to mankind to reach the atmospheric CO2 removal goals, accumulation of carbon in vegetation and soil is one promising path, in which mycorrhizal symbiosis plays a very important role. Our new detailed maps of mycorrhizal distribution across the globe will allow for conscious policy design towards decreasing atmospheric CO2 by sequestering carbon in soil and plants,” says lead author Nadejda Soudzilovskaia, a researcher at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

    Reference
    Soudzilovskaia NA, van Bodegom PM, Terrer C, van’t Zelfde M, McCallum I, McCormack ML, Fisher JB, Brundrett M, de Sá NC, Tedersoo L (2019). Global mycorrhizal plant distribution linked to terrestrial carbon stocks. Nature Communications DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13019-2

    More info/Links

    http://www.iiasa.ac.at/web/home/resources/publications/options/w16_Root_fungi_af...
    https://www.iiasa.ac.at/web/home/about/news/190517-microbial-symbioses-in-forest...
    https://www.iiasa.ac.at/web/home/about/news/190812-preserving-forests.html

    Contacts:

    Researcher contact
    Ian McCallum
    Research Scholar
    Ecosystems Services and Management Program
    Tel: +43 2236 807 328
    mccallum@iiasa.ac.at

    Press Officer
    Ansa Heyl
    IIASA Press Office
    Tel: +43 2236 807 574
    Mob: +43 676 83 807 574
    heyl@iiasa.ac.at

    About IIASA:
    The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. www.iiasa.ac.at


    Images

    Criteria of this press release:
    Journalists, all interested persons
    Biology, Environment / ecology, Zoology / agricultural and forest sciences
    transregional, national
    Research results
    English


     

    Help

    Search / advanced search of the idw archives
    Combination of search terms

    You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.

    Brackets

    You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).

    Phrases

    Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.

    Selection criteria

    You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).

    If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).