If you are in need of soil microbial data relating to PLFAs or enzyme activities, check out our latest paper that provides an open-access global database of data form around the world. Thanks very much to the long list of collaborators who made this happen! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A global database of soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids and enzyme activities - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - A global database of soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids and enzyme activities

nature.com

Can plant biodiversity predict underground fungal diversity? New study published in Nature Communications finds only 8.8% of arbuscular mycorrhizal and 1.5% of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity hotspots overlap with plant hotspots. Link to paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵

Our paper mapping plant and mycorrhizal fungal diversity correlations is out! Relationships are weak at the global level, but both positive and negative at smaller scales. Plants are not always proxies for fungi — fungi need their own conservation focus @spun.earth @ethz.ch doi.org/10.1038/s414...

📣 GSBI's latest blog has just been published 🎉 In this blog, Dr. Laura Van Galen discusses the mystery of dark taxa in ectomycorrhizal fungi 🍄 Read it here 👇 www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath...

The problem of “dark taxa” in ectomycorrhizal fungal conservation and research — Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative

Laura van Galen, ETH Zürich (Switzerland) & SPUN (Society for the Protection of Underground Networks)

globalsoilbiodiversity.org

It was great to be part of this paper mapping mycorrhizal fungal diversity around the world!

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN)@spun.earth · last yr.

Who lives underground? Find out now in our new paper published in @nature.com. Key finding: 90% of predicted mycorrhizal biodiversity hotspots lie outside protected areas. Read here: buff.ly/WmDqAP3 🧵

Great to see this and thanks for highlighting our study, led by @laura-vangalen.bsky.social in this article.

Most plant-friendly fungi are a mystery to scientists

Most fungi that partner with plants are known only from trace DNA sequences left in soil.

theconversation.com

Katie Field@katiefield4.bsky.social · last yr.

Tom Parker @hutton.ac.uk and I wrote for @theconversation.com discussing why it’s important to find out what’s out there in terms of mycorrhizal fungi following a the revent review in @currentbiology.bsky.social by the @spun.earth team. Read it here: theconversation.com/most-plant-f...

Tom Parker @hutton.ac.uk and I wrote for @theconversation.com discussing why it’s important to find out what’s out there in terms of mycorrhizal fungi following a the revent review in @currentbiology.bsky.social by the @spun.earth team. Read it here: theconversation.com/most-plant-f...

Most plant-friendly fungi are a mystery to scientists

Most fungi that partner with plants are known only from trace DNA sequences left in soil.

theconversation.com

Find out why SPUN scientists @camilletruong.bsky.social and @laura-vangalen.bsky.social are desperate to know more about dark taxa in this new article by Daniel Graham, featured on BBC Magazine's Discover Wildlife: www.discoverwildlife.com/environment/...

Dark taxa: why scientists are desperate to know more about this secret network of underground life | Discover Wildlife

Huge numbers of subterranean fungi remain unknown to science, posing problems for conservation around the world, say researchers.

discoverwildlife.com

The "dark" #biodiversity of ectomycorrhizal #fungi Epic review in our 🍄 special issue by Laura van Galen @laura-vangalen.bsky.social and many many others! www.cell.com/current-biol...

The biogeography and conservation of Earth’s ‘dark’ ectomycorrhizal fungi

In this review, van Galen et al. use global soil metabarcoding databases to evaluate current estimates of the total number of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal species on Earth, outline the current state o...

cell.com

Have you ever heard of the term “dark taxa”? Published in @currentbiology.bsky.social‬, a new study reveals an astonishing 83% of ectomycorrhizal #fungi are classified as dark taxa, existing only through their DNA sequences and eluding formal classification. 🧵

So excited to see this published! Congratulations @laura-vangalen.bsky.social and all coauthors! Link to paper here www.cell.com/current-biol...

The biogeography and conservation of Earth’s ‘dark’ ectomycorrhizal fungi

In this review, van Galen et al. use global soil metabarcoding databases to evaluate current estimates of the total number of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal species on Earth, outline the current state o...

cell.com

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN)@spun.earth · last yr.

Have you ever heard of the term “dark taxa”? Published in @currentbiology.bsky.social‬, a new study reveals an astonishing 83% of ectomycorrhizal #fungi are classified as dark taxa, existing only through their DNA sequences and eluding formal classification. 🧵

Our paper shows that most ectomycorrhizal fungal species (83% of OTUs) are "dark taxa": species we detect in DNA, but can't match to known species names. We map global "darkspots" - the parts of the world most in need of more research. @spun.earth @ethz.ch www.cell.com/current-biol...

The biogeography and conservation of Earth’s ‘dark’ ectomycorrhizal fungi

In this review, van Galen et al. use global soil metabarcoding databases to evaluate current estimates of the total number of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal species on Earth, outline the current state o...

cell.com

Microbes are critical to life on Earth. But they’re unsung heroes, unrecognized by international policies. A new paper by SPUN collaborator @laura-vangalen.bsky.social underlines how indispensable microbe-based technologies are to achieve ALL of the #SDGs. https://buff.ly/3WwlZBU