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Global hotspots of mycorrhizal fungal richness are poorly protected

Van Nuland, Michael E. ; Averill, Colin ; Stewart, Justin D. ; Prylutskyi, Oleh ; Corrales, Adriana ; van Galen, Laura G. ; Manley, Bethan F. ; Qin, Clara ; Lauber, Thomas and Mikryukov, Vladimir , et al. (2025) In Nature 645(8080). p.414-422
Abstract

Mycorrhizal fungi are ecosystem engineers that sustain plant life and help regulate Earth's biogeochemical cycles1-3. However, in contrast to plants and animals, the global distribution of mycorrhizal fungal biodiversity is largely unknown, which limits our ability to monitor and protect key underground ecosystems4,5. Here we trained machine-learning algorithms on a global dataset of 25,000 geolocated soil samples comprising >2.8 billion fungal DNA sequences. We predicted arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungal richness and rarity across terrestrial ecosystems. On the basis of these predictions, we generated high-resolution, global-scale maps and identified key reservoirs of highly diverse and endemic mycorrhizal... (More)

Mycorrhizal fungi are ecosystem engineers that sustain plant life and help regulate Earth's biogeochemical cycles1-3. However, in contrast to plants and animals, the global distribution of mycorrhizal fungal biodiversity is largely unknown, which limits our ability to monitor and protect key underground ecosystems4,5. Here we trained machine-learning algorithms on a global dataset of 25,000 geolocated soil samples comprising >2.8 billion fungal DNA sequences. We predicted arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungal richness and rarity across terrestrial ecosystems. On the basis of these predictions, we generated high-resolution, global-scale maps and identified key reservoirs of highly diverse and endemic mycorrhizal communities. Intersecting protected areas with mycorrhizal hotspots indicated that less than 10% of predicted mycorrhizal richness hotspots currently exist in protected areas. Our results describe a largely hidden component of Earth's underground ecosystems and can help identify conservation priorities, set monitoring benchmarks and create specific restoration plans and land-management strategies.

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author collaboration
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature
volume
645
issue
8080
pages
9 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:105015610910
  • pmid:40702191
ISSN
0028-0836
DOI
10.1038/s41586-025-09277-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
48217fa3-b34b-4e34-a1f8-366c99b9f64e
date added to LUP
2025-10-15 15:40:47
date last changed
2025-11-12 17:42:38
@article{48217fa3-b34b-4e34-a1f8-366c99b9f64e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Mycorrhizal fungi are ecosystem engineers that sustain plant life and help regulate Earth's biogeochemical cycles1-3. However, in contrast to plants and animals, the global distribution of mycorrhizal fungal biodiversity is largely unknown, which limits our ability to monitor and protect key underground ecosystems4,5. Here we trained machine-learning algorithms on a global dataset of 25,000 geolocated soil samples comprising &gt;2.8 billion fungal DNA sequences. We predicted arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungal richness and rarity across terrestrial ecosystems. On the basis of these predictions, we generated high-resolution, global-scale maps and identified key reservoirs of highly diverse and endemic mycorrhizal communities. Intersecting protected areas with mycorrhizal hotspots indicated that less than 10% of predicted mycorrhizal richness hotspots currently exist in protected areas. Our results describe a largely hidden component of Earth's underground ecosystems and can help identify conservation priorities, set monitoring benchmarks and create specific restoration plans and land-management strategies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Van Nuland, Michael E. and Averill, Colin and Stewart, Justin D. and Prylutskyi, Oleh and Corrales, Adriana and van Galen, Laura G. and Manley, Bethan F. and Qin, Clara and Lauber, Thomas and Mikryukov, Vladimir and Dulia, Olesia and Furci, Giuliana and Marín, César and Sheldrake, Merlin and Weedon, James T. and Peay, Kabir G. and Cornwallis, Charlie K. and Větrovský, Tomáš and Kohout, Petr and Baldrian, Petr and Tedersoo, Leho and West, Stuart A. and Crowther, Thomas W. and Kiers, E. Toby and van den Hoogen, Johan}},
  issn         = {{0028-0836}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{8080}},
  pages        = {{414--422}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature}},
  title        = {{Global hotspots of mycorrhizal fungal richness are poorly protected}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09277-4}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41586-025-09277-4}},
  volume       = {{645}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}