Do mushrooms rule the world? Underground networks of fungi were already known to be hugely important, but only now has their full extent been established.
Fungi’s secret life beneath our feet
Fabulous fungi: Fungi are nature’s ultimate recyclers and the foundation of terrestrial life; without them, ecosystems would collapse because nothing would decay. Glossary
Quadrillion - One quadrillion is one followed by fifteen zeroes.
Arbuscular - Relating to a branched, tree-like organ. Often specifically used in reference to a type of fungus.
Mycorrhizal - A symbiotic (mutually helpful) relationship between a plant and a fungus.
Filaments - Long, thin, thread-like structures found in nature. In fungi, these microscopic threads are called hyphae, and they grow underground to form massive networks.
Carbohydrates - One of the three main nutrients found in food and drinks, broken down into glucose (or blood sugar) by the body.
Plateau - A period where something stops changing or improving and stays at the same level.
CO2 - Carbon dioxide.
Global warming - The Earth is getting hotter due to climate change.
Radioactive - Something that has or produces radiation.
Microbiome - A mini-ecosystem of trillions of microscopic organisms, like bacteria, fungi, and viruses, that live together in a specific environment. For example, your gut microbiome lives inside your digestive system and helps keep you healthy.
Antibiotics - Medicines that fight bacterial infections.
Spores - Cells produced by fungi for reproduction. They are dispersed over a wide area.
Sediments - Small pieces of solid material, like sand, mud, rock, or organic matter, that settle at the bottom of a liquid. Over millions of years, layers of sediment build up on places like the ocean floor, trapping and preserving ancient fossils or fungal spores, and eventually becoming hardened, or "lithified" as rock.