Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN)

Agriculture transforms land aboveground. But what happens to life below? Underground Explorers around the world are studying what happens to mycorrhizal fungi as lands are converted to cropland, plantations, pasture, and more. Explore more: spun.earth/underground-explorers #MycorrhizalFungi

Could fungi that survive chemical contamination help restore damaged soils? Bolaji Thanni's SPUN-supported research offers insights on the potential need to restore fungal species when rehabilitating soils damaged by toxic chemicals. Keep exploring: spun.earth/underground-explorers #Mycorrhizae

Can soil collected from nearby healthy woodlands improve the success of restoring Britain’s Atlantic Rainforest? That’s one of the questions SPUN and Cumbria Connect are testing in Cumbria. Read about our experiment: buff.ly/McS8w75 #MycorrhizalFungi #AtlanticRainforest #ForestRestoration

A first look at the recent expedition to #Bhutan with Merlin Sheldrake, Giuliana Furci of the Fungi Foundation, @tobykiers.bsky.social, and Cosmo Sheldrake. The team travelled through Bhutan's steep mountain landscapes, exploring how #fungi, climate, and culture interact. More soon. 📸: Tomás Munita

#MycorrhizalFungi are making the Climate 100. SPUN's @tobykiers.bsky.social has been selected for @the-independent.com’s 2026 Climate 100, alongside scientists, campaigners and innovators working on climate solutions worldwide. Congratulations, Toby. Full list: buff.ly/rkm9wtB #Climate100

Going to the Radical Mycology Convergence in Mulino, Oregon? 🍄 SPUN UX Lead Victoria Beall will be there on September 25 with a workshop on how design, systems thinking, scientific research, and folk knowledge can help us approach complex environmental problems. More on buff.ly/EZ4wLNr

Can Indigenous farming methods help improve yields, reduce deforestation, and protect biodiversity? PhD candidate and Underground Explorer Evelin Yulisa Reyes Méndez studies how Lenca farming practices shape healthier landscapes in Honduras. Explore: spun.earth/underground-explorers #Mycorrhizae

Why does data alone fail to move people — and what actually makes science stick? We're convening a session at CFF's Narrative Change Summit during #ClimateWeekNYC talking about misinformation, science communication, and a new storytelling initiative. Sept 21, 12:30pm RSVP: buff.ly/YdRPYUY

Some relationships in nature go back hundreds of millions of years. Mycorrhizal fungi and plants are one of them. It's a mutualistic symbiosis: fungi help plants access water and nutrients from the soil in exchange for carbon. More terms on www.spun.earth/glossary #mycorrhizalfungi #symbiosis

🌲🦠Forest Microbiomes and Ecosystem Resilience: Meet our speakers! 🌈🍄 🔗 Webinar: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/forest-microbiomes-and-ecosystem-resilience/ 📝 Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/YWXFLEbsS92AzRaoCgVGcA

How do you map the infrastructure of plant-fungal trade? @thecrobe.bsky.social joined @forrest.nyc on The Spatial Stack to discuss the Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map and the science behind mapping mycorrhizal fungi across Earth. Watch: buff.ly/YmpbmOr #MycorrhizalFungi #GISMapping

Could perennial agroforestry help mycorrhizal fungi withstand some effects of deforestation? New research from Underground Explorer Damilola Olanipon and collaborators in Nigeria suggests it may. Full paper in Plant-Environment Interactions : buff.ly/PN4b6T5

Grasslands cover half of the Earth. Desertification, soil erosion & climate change are damaging these ecosystems globally. SPUN is at #UNCCDCOP17 to present new research from Mongolia’s steppe & make the case for the inclusion of fungal data in soil health monitoring. #COP17Mongolia #Mycorrhizae

For 2 years, we’ve been mapping mycorrhizal fungi across the Mongolian steppe. Now, we will be presenting these data in Ulaanbaatar, bringing underground networks to the #UNCCDCOP17 conversation. Message us if you’ll be there. @bethanfmanley.bsky.social @tobykiers.bsky.social 📸:Tomás Munita

A vivid blue-green fungus is now part of the scientific record. SPUN scientist Dr. Adriana Corrales and colleagues described Leotia chiricana from collections in tropical montane forests in Panama and Colombia, adding to what we know about understudied ectomycorrhizal fungi in the Neotropics.

Can soil fungi influence what happens inside clouds? Researchers identified proteins produced by endophytic soil fungi that can trigger ice formation. The finding raises new questions about how fungi may influence precipitation and other atmospheric processes. Full study: buff.ly/w0fvWcm #fungi

In a new Science study, researchers provide the first estimate of the global density and biomass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4vfgZRv

A new paper supported by SPUN’s Underground Explorers Program explores fungi inside the roots of 11 Chloraea orchid species in central Chile. The findings reveal highly variable fungal communities, with important implications for orchid conservation. Full paper: buff.ly/W9gaXYB #mycorrhizalfungi

In a threatened corner of the Amazon, Underground Explorer Camila Nobre found 48 mycorrhizal fungal species beneath the forest. Her work points to an urgent restoration question: what belowground life needs to be present for forests to grow back in all their complexity? Video by Justin Magness

Field update: Sampling in the US Desert in 100 degree temperature. Earlier this year, SPUN scientists Jinsu Elhance and Dr. Anne Polyakov together with Dr. Cameron Egan of USC traveled to the Mojave Desert to sample soils around threatened Joshua trees. More soon. 📸: Gabe De La Rosa

SPUN scientist @thecrobe.bsky.social joined @npr.org to explain the tiny fungal threads beneath our feet, how they support plants, and why mapping them matters for conservation, restoration, and climate models. Listen here: buff.ly/SNzr2qc

The underground story keeps traveling. Coverage of our new @science.org paper continues, with recent features from CNN Brasil, de Volkskrant, Wired Japan, Spektrum, Le Monde, Wyborcza and Clarin. Learn more about the research and explore the Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map: buff.ly/Xk8v9y1

Meet our 2026 Underground Explorers. This year, SPUN is supporting 55 researchers, conservationists, and soil experts from 31 countries to help document mycorrhizal fungi in some of Earth’s most underexplored ecosystems. #ProtectTheUnderground #UndergroundExplorers #MycorrhizalFungi

How much mycelium is in one teaspoon of soil? In an interview with SAMRN, @thecrobe.bsky.social shows how SPUN’s Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map makes hyphal density visible: in a pixel, the model predicts almost 8 meters of mycelium in 1 cm³ of soil. Full interview on Mycorrhizas: buff.ly/f2ePOSd

Across 7 countries, 22 regions, 109 sites, and 1,230 samples, we’re studying deep-soil arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi across agricultural lands. By comparing deep and surface soils, we’re asking how fungal communities differ with depth and farming pressure, and how they relate to belowground carbon.

ICOM 2026 attendees: SPUN is heading to Cairns. Justin Stewart (@thecrobe.bsky.social) will be representing SPUN across the conference, including a talk on our newest global mapping work and a hands-on R workshop. Come say hello. #ICOM2026 #MycorrhizalFungi #SoilEcology

The Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map is one of @nature.com's standout science images for June. Selected by Nature’s photo team, the map appears alongside deep-sea life, auroras, fossils & other research helping reveal worlds that are difficult to see. Gallery: buff.ly/qN3m3rU Map: buff.ly/21F9Kln

Heading to the South American Mycorrhizal Symposium in Quito? Jacqueline Gallant, Director of Programs at the More-Than-Human Life (MOTH) Program at NYU Law, will lead a pre-symposium workshop: “Translating Mycological Science into Law: The Basics.” Apply by July 20: buff.ly/8latej2

Moss-dominated biocrusts and their fungal partners may help us understand one of life’s major transitions: how early plants and fungi adapted to life on land nearly 470 million years ago. Read the paper @newphyt.bsky.social: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 📸: Gabriel De La Rosa

Thank you @natmicrobiol.nature.com! Explore the Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map here: www.spun.earth/mapping/a-hi...

Fungal networks act as the planet's underground circulatory system, but 90% of their biodiversity hotspots sit outside protected areas. @spun.earth has mapped Earth's mycorrhizal biomass to help prioritize below-ground conservation. Learn more 👉️ mongabay.cc/ffqDoN

The fungal highways under our feet is 10 M light years long! @spun.earth @tobykiers.bsky.social @fmartin54.bsky.social www.radiofrance.fr/franceinfo/p...

How much do Earth’s fungal networks weigh? In new research we used robotic imaging of 300,000+ hyphae, field samples and satellites, to estimate the global length, volume, and biomass of mycorrhizal fungal networks. The answer: roughly 300 megatons. Read the study in @science.org: buff.ly/xZYY3vA

We mapped the estimated scale of Earth’s AM fungal networks. Explore the Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map. www.spun.earth/mapping/a-hi...

Scientists for years have known mycorrhizal fungal were vital for plant life and storing carbon. But little was known about their density until now.

~1 billion times the distance from Earth to the Sun. That is approx the total length of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal hyphae in topsoils. These microscopic fungal networks form one of Earth’s circulatory systems moving carbon and nutrients. Out now in @science.org : lnkd.in/eKAsVN_Z

I converted the distance covered by all the fungal hyphae in the planet's soils into light years: the distance is 11,700 light years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zip... @spun.earth

Congratulations to the @spun.earth consortium on their @science.org paper providing the first global estimate of plant root symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal biomass and hyphal length in soils. Great review in @theguardian.com on global implications. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

A new study in @science.org by an international team maps the distribution and mass of Earth’s living arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a microbial infrastructure made of tiny fungal tubes called hyphae. Explore the Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map: buff.ly/PISOj8k Read the study: buff.ly/xZYY3vA

Global map Global news Our new paper in @science.org estimates the global length, volume, and biomass of AM fungal networks, microscopic systems that help plants access nutrients in exchange for carbon. The story has travelled far, we are grateful for every outlet that helped carry it. #fungi

A hidden circulatory system pulses just beneath the planet’s surface. Embedded in soil, dense networks of microorganisms, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, attach to plant roots. Laid end to end, these filaments would extend for 68 quadrillion miles. Great work by Toby Kiers @spun.earth Gift link 🍄

A new study in @science.org by an international team maps the distribution and mass of Earth’s living arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a microbial infrastructure made of tiny fungal tubes called hyphae. Explore the Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map: buff.ly/PISOj8k Read the study: buff.ly/xZYY3vA