Key Takeaways:
– More than one-third of the world’s tree species risk extinction due to climate change.
– Fungi, essential for tree survival, struggle to adapt to climate changes.
– A study finds that suitable habitats for tree-fungi pairings shift towards cooler, wetter conditions.
– Deforestation negatively impacts both trees and fungi by destroying their habitats and relationship.
– Biodiversity in soil fungi is pivotal for tree species to adapt and survive.
Understand the Tree-Fungi Relationship
The global extinction risk has intensified for over one-third of the world’s tree species. The survival of these precious plant forms falls under a significant threat due to climate change. The prime reason is their inability to adapt away from vital symbiotic fungi. The underworld organisms, termed ectomycorrhizal fungi, are massively crucial to most tree species for their survival, providing necessary nutrients and water.
The Fungal Struggle against Climate Change
Like other organisms, these particular fungi are also battling climate change. Heat and drought, particularly, are putting their existence—and thus the survival of numerous tree species—in jeopardy. That Illuminates a truth already known to scientists: the future survival of tree species in different regions depends heavily on the fungi’s response to climate change.
Soil microbe scientist Michael van Nuland emphasizes, “These are absolutely critical interactions for both the aboveground and belowground world.” However, there still remains a vast unknown about how these relationships are going to fare against climate change.
Scientists Investigate the Shrinking Overlap
Van Nuland and his team at the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks sought answers. Their study, published earlier this year, examines how climate change affects the symbiotic relationship between trees and underground fungi by shrinking their habitats’ overlap. Using data from North America, the research maps the “suitable habitat” where tree species and soil fungi overlapped and how these habitats might shift under future climate conditions.
Where Trees and Fungi Survive
The study pinpointed a shift northward into cooler and wetter conditions of suitable habitats for both trees and fungi. However, the move is proving challenging for 35% of all tree-fungi pairings, facing shrinking areas. For these, the absence of the right fungi prevents trees from moving north with their climate, thus endangering their survival.
The Unexpected Outcome
Van Nuland found the fact that only a third of tree-fungi pairs faced shrinking habitat surprising, believing it to be a conservative estimate. The loss looked beyond the obvious habitat size—it’s also about ecological function. Van Nuland defined it as species interaction loss, “The tree species are missing a critical element they need to survive, just as they might be lacking the right climate.”
Clear-Cutting Forests Damages Fungal Network
Deforestation spells trouble not just for trees, but fungi too. When a forest gets clear-cut, it results in a simultaneous culling of the belowground fungal network. While this damage may be out of sight, it doesn’t lessen its severe impact on the ecosystem as a whole.
The Role of Fungal Biodiversity
Habitat shrinkage is significantly driven by a lack of biodiversity in soil fungi at the extreme points of suitable habitat overlap, the data showed. The odds for trees to find suitable fungal partners are better if there is greater diversity of soil fungi at the edge of their suitable habitat. Van Nuland supplemented, “Fungi unlock the potential for trees to escape.”
In essence, the study highlights that climate change is driving trees away from essential fungi, thus jeopardizing their survival, a situation that underlines the need for immediate intervention. By focusing on preserving trees and fungi, we safeguard the delicate balance of our microbial world and our planet in general.