'The future is fungal': New research finds that fungi that live in healthy plants are sensitive to climate change
Spruce, pine, fir and other trees tower across the frigid swaths of land that span North America, northern Europe and Russia in a great ring around the world. These boreal forests constitute the largest land ecosystem and ...
Nestled within the photosynthetic, or light-eating, tissue of the boreal trees—and within the bountiful cloud-like lichens and feathery mosses that carpet the ground between them—are fungi. These fungi are endophytes, meaning they live within plants, often in a mutually beneficial arrangement.
"To be a plant is to live in a fungal world," said Betsy Arnold, a professor in the School of Plant Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the College of Science and a member of the Bio5 Institute. "Endophytic fungi are vital to the health of plants in ways that aren't yet totally understood, but what we do know from endophytes in general is that they're very good at protecting plants against disease and helping plants be more resilient to environmental stressors, like heat. They've been part of an important revolution in our thinking about plants."
Over a decade ago, Arnold and her team set out on a monthlong adventure deep into the wilderness of northeastern Canada to understand how these fungal species adapted across different microenvironments and how they might fare under future climate change.
They found great diversity among the fungi and that they were adapted in highly specific ways to their local conditions, implying that they will be sensitive to future changes in climate. With the health of fungi so closely tied to the health of their hosts, these findings have implications for the overall health of future boreal forests and for our planet.
Cladonia, a lichen, grows in a white puff only a few inches above a carpet of a moss called Pleurozium. Like the iconic black spruce (Picea) of the boreal belt, they harbor diverse endophytic fungi that live symbiotically within their healthy tissues. Credit: Betsy Arnold
Betsy Arnold and her team accessed remote areas of the boreal forests of eastern North America by floatplane. A view from the window shows spruce trees growing from a carpet of moss and lichens, and the lake on which the researchers were to land. Credit: Betsy Arnold
The team flew from lake to lake in a DeHavilland Otter with expert pilot Jacques Bérubé (center) providing access to remote sites for the project's field team, under the co-leadership of François Lutzoni (left) of Duke University and UArizona's Betsy Arnold. Credit: Betsy Arnold