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Global density and biomass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks.

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Title: Global density and biomass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks.
Authors: Stewart, Justin D. (AUTHOR), Bisot, Corentin (AUTHOR), Cargill, Rachael I. M. (AUTHOR), Van Nuland, Michael E. (AUTHOR), Hawkins, Heidi-Jayne (AUTHOR), Oyarte Galvez, Loreto (AUTHOR), Klein, Malin (AUTHOR), van Son, Marije (AUTHOR), Terry, Victoria (AUTHOR), Paré, Louis (AUTHOR), Banchini, Claudia (AUTHOR), Stefani, Franck (AUTHOR), Kahane, Felix (AUTHOR), Lin, Kai-Kai (AUTHOR), Braghiere, Renato K. (AUTHOR), Field, Katie J. (AUTHOR), Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A. (AUTHOR), Elhance, Jinsu (AUTHOR), Kokkoris, Vasilis (AUTHOR), Sheldrake, Merlin (AUTHOR)
Source: Science. 6/11/2026, Vol. 392 Issue 6803, p1171-1176. 6p.
Subjects: Biomass, Machine learning, Soil ecology, Biogeochemical cycles, Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas, Carbon cycle
Abstract: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi form symbioses with ~70% of plant species, building hyphal networks that exchange nutrients for host-derived carbon. These tubular networks move ~1 billion metric tons of carbon per year into Earth's soils. However, we have no quantitative understanding of the hyphal infrastructure required to carry out this resource transfer. We assembled data from 322 studies representing more than 16,000 soil cores across nine biomes and developed machine-learning models to predict hyphal densities globally. With robotic imaging of more than 300,000 hyphae, we calibrated a biomass model from our spatial predictions. We estimate that global topsoils contain 1.10 × 1017 ± 0.13 × 1017 SD kilometers of living hyphae, weighing ~300 ± 60 SD megatons, ~4- to 6-fold the biomass of humans. Our uncertainty analyses identified undersampled ecosystems that require additional empirical attention. Editor's summary: Most species of plants form underground associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which provide plant roots with nutrients in exchange for carbon. AM fungi form networks of hyphae that act as tubes spreading carbon and connecting plants, but the global scale of these networks is unknown because of the difficulty of observing them underground. Stewart et al. compiled field and experimental data on hyphal density and used machine learning to predict how AM density varies across the globe. They then predicted hyphal biomass using high-resolution image analysis of hyphal network length from two globally distributed fungal species grown on transparent media in the lab. The authors predicted a large and spatially variable extent of AM fungi across the globe. —Bianca Lopez [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Global density and biomass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks.
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi form symbioses with ~70% of plant species, building hyphal networks that exchange nutrients for host-derived carbon. These tubular networks move ~1 billion metric tons of carbon per year into Earth's soils. However, we have no quantitative understanding of the hyphal infrastructure required to carry out this resource transfer. We assembled data from 322 studies representing more than 16,000 soil cores across nine biomes and developed machine-learning models to predict hyphal densities globally. With robotic imaging of more than 300,000 hyphae, we calibrated a biomass model from our spatial predictions. We estimate that global topsoils contain 1.10 × 1017 ± 0.13 × 1017 SD kilometers of living hyphae, weighing ~300 ± 60 SD megatons, ~4- to 6-fold the biomass of humans. Our uncertainty analyses identified undersampled ecosystems that require additional empirical attention. Editor's summary: Most species of plants form underground associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which provide plant roots with nutrients in exchange for carbon. AM fungi form networks of hyphae that act as tubes spreading carbon and connecting plants, but the global scale of these networks is unknown because of the difficulty of observing them underground. Stewart et al. compiled field and experimental data on hyphal density and used machine learning to predict how AM density varies across the globe. They then predicted hyphal biomass using high-resolution image analysis of hyphal network length from two globally distributed fungal species grown on transparent media in the lab. The authors predicted a large and spatially variable extent of AM fungi across the globe. —Bianca Lopez [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Label:
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1126/science.adu4373
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Soil ecology
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