It has been a great experience volunteering on the IMS board. We have new student awards, a new logo, a refreshed website, and we’re set for the next ICOMs. We also have t-shirts! All to ensure that mycorrhizal research continues to thrive. Come see our booth at #icom2026 !

On my way to #icom2026. A long trip with long flights, but I feel good knowing that this conference directly contributes to the conservation of the Daintree rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. Looking forward to it.

Very pleased to share that, as of June 1st, I'll be serving as an Editor at New Phytologist; interactions section. It’s an honour, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute to a journal I've always admired, and that has played such an important role in advancing plant science.

Happy to share this work co-authored with Ylva Lekberg and Jonathan Plett. In a world plagued by war and environmental destruction, research into how mycorrhizal fungi can advance the UN sustainability goals might seem irrelevant. It is not. academic.oup.com/femsle/advan...

New paper out today - Microplastic fibers, not bulkier shapes, disrupt soil carbon cycling, cutting CO₂ emissions ~25%. Grateful for the collaboration with lead author Serra-Willow Buchanan and Marie Sauvadet, Ryan Prosser and Kari Dunfield. doi.org/10.1093/etoj...

The final version in an issue is now available open source. dx.doi.org/10.1111/nph....

Fluid mechanics within mycorrhizal networks: exploring concepts, traits, and methodologies

Mycorrhizal fungi form hyphal networks for water and solute transport between soil and plant roots. Trait-based research on these organisms typically focuses on spores and resource exchange structure...

dx.doi.org

#Viewpoint: A critical reassessment of the novel weapons hypothesis and allelopathy as an adaptive strategy that facilitates #PlantInvasion Robert Colautti & Pedro Madeira Antunes 👇 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #LatestIssue #PlantScience

Now published in @newphyt.bsky.social, @1pantunes.bsky.social and I review evidence for the "Novel Weapons Hypothesis" and the role of allelopathy during invasion. Bottom line: there is very good reason to be skeptical. dx.doi.org/10.1111/nph....

The many hours I spent idealizing and drawing this diagram for this review paper are condensed into 25 seconds here. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The many hours spent idealizing and drawing this diagram for this review paper are condensed into 25 seconds here. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New paper out today. Fluid mechanics within mycorrhizal networks: exploring concepts, traits, and methodologies I ask: How do fungal networks move water, nutrients and signals underground? Why does this matter? See thread ⬇️ nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Fluid mechanics within mycorrhizal networks: exploring concepts, traits, and methodologies

Mycorrhizal fungi form hyphal networks for water and solute transport between soil and plant roots. Trait-based research on these organisms typically focuses on spores and resource exchange structure...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

New paper: ‘Soil inoculation improves tree seedling growth in substrates containing bitumen, but the effect varies by species and inoculum source’ led by James Franklin @jamesfranklin, a past PhD from my group. 🧵 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Soil inoculation improves tree seedling growth in substrates containing bitumen, but the effect varies by species and inoculum source

Soil inoculation improved tree seedling growth in some substrates containing bitumen, but the effect varied by species and inoculum source. Inoculum from extreme environments, such as the abandoned o...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Thanks James Franklin, @1pantunes.bsky.social and Brian Lanoil for a great collaboration!

Pleated inkcap (Parasola plicatilis) fruiting bodies rise, spread their spores and decay within 24 hours after a rainfall. They are very small and delicate. These middle-aged ones (7-10 hours old) were around our field today.

Important to be aware. The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

If you belong to an organization committed to biodiversity and the environment, consider sponsoring the International Conference on Mycorrhiza. More than an excellent program, the organizers have an impressive sustainability strategy. See sponsor packages: icom2026.org#goto-sponsor

ICOM 2026

Visit the post for more.

icom2026.org

Our new newsletter is now published! Dig into the latest updates on IMS’s 20th anniversary, ICOM2026 preparations, our new website & logo, top 10 research papers, and upcoming events. Read more at mycorrhizas.org/news. Stay connected! #Mycorrhiza

The latest research from our lab is out today—a collaboration with @carlosbarreto.bsky.social, and students Gabrielle Faucher and Katja Karhi. Lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor L.) invasion alters the composition of ... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor L.) invasion alters the composition of soil invertebrate communities in two mixed deciduous forests

Invasive plant species threaten biodiversity and ecosystem stability, yet their impacts on soil invertebrate communities remain understudied globally.…

sciencedirect.com

Very happy to announce the very first M.Sc. in Biology thesis defence @algomau.bsky.social . This moment marks a transformative milestone in scientific research, placing our school on the map as a rising hub for advanced knowledge and discovery.

A THREAD: Our new paper, with @colauttilab.bsky.social, critically assesses whether allelopathy truly gives invaders their edge. Key takeaways 👇🧵 doi.org/10.1111/nph....

A critical reassessment of the novel weapons hypothesis and allelopathy as an adaptive strategy that facilitates plant invasion

Plants have evolved an assortment of chemical adaptations that integrate environmental cues with developmental processes to regulate growth and reproduction. A subset of these phytochemicals may be c....

doi.org

Our latest work with @colauttilab.bsky.social is out today! Always great to work with Rob, one of the best evolutionary biologists out there. We hope this work sparks some important conversations on allelopathy and reproducibility in ecological research. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Coming soon (with @1pantunes.bsky.social)...

The website of the international conference on mycorrhizas is now live. icom2026.org

🌱 Hello, BlueSky! 👋 We’re excited to join this space and connect with new communities! To celebrate, we’re launching our new logo and completely redesigned website Now available in English, Spanish & French Take a look 👉 mycorrhizas.org We’re just getting started here — follow us for updates!

Dual mycorrhizae interact with soil nutrients to influence <i>Pinus strobus</i> establishment in northern hardwood forests cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Dual mycorrhizae interact with soil nutrients to influence <i>Pinus strobus</i> establishment in northern hardwood forests

Many tree species form dual mycorrhizal symbioses, arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) and ectomycorrhizae (EM), especially at the seedling stage, but the effect of soil nutrient availability in shaping these...

cdnsciencepub.com

What will the forests northern Ontario look like in the future? We’ve been chasing this question for 3 years; thanks to support from NSERC, MNR and Algoma Uni. Today was a good one; lots of progress, and surprisingly few mosquitoes. I can’t believe I get paid to work in this beautiful place.

New paper out in New Phytologist! We show that how we define species in AM fungi is flawed — and propose a better, reproducible approach. Grateful to my brilliant co-authors Nicolas Corradi and Franco Magurno for bringing me in and pushing my thinking. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

A call for reform: implementing genome‐based approaches for species classification in Glomeromycotina

In arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, only c. 370 species have been formally described despite these fungal organisms having coevolved with plants for hundreds of millions of years. In contrast to th...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Our latest growth chamber experiment with trees is looking good. We’re looking at plant-soil interactions in Canada’s northern regions.

This bald eagle juvenile went over my head this morning.

I'm looking forward to be delivering the keynote talk at this year’s Annual Celebration of Research of U-Links - Spotlight on Invasive Species this coming Saturday! www.eventbrite.ca/e/annual-cel...

Annual Celebration of Research - 2025

Join us for our Annual Celebration of Research as U-Links - Spotlight on Invasive Species

eventbrite.ca