Scientist wins 'Environment Nobel' for revealing hidden fungal networks

Toby Kiers has received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for her research on mycorrhizal fungal networks and for creating a global Underground Atlas that maps below-ground biodiversity; those fungi are reported to draw down about 13.12 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Toby Kiers has been awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, a prize sometimes described as the "Nobel for the environment." The award recognises her research that brings attention to vast fungal networks beneath forests, grasslands and farms. Those mycorrhizal networks exchange nutrients with plant roots and are reported to draw down about 13.12 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year. Kiers and colleagues published a global Underground Atlas last year to chart where different mycorrhizal fungi occur. Key facts: - Toby Kiers received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and the prize carries a $250,000 award. - Mycorrhizal networks exchange nutrients with plant roots and are reported to draw down about 13.12 billion tons of CO2 annually. - Kiers's 2011 Science paper described mycorrhizal fungi behaving like traders in a "biological marketplace," allocating nutrients based on supply and demand. - Two recent Nature papers from her group introduced a robotic imaging system to observe fungal networks in real time and presented a global map of fungal species distributions. - Kiers co-founded the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), which is launching an "Underground Advocates" program to train scientists in legal tools for protecting fungal biodiversity. Summary: The research reframes underground fungal networks as widespread biological systems that influence nutrient flows and carbon cycling. Global mapping has shown many fungal diversity hotspots lie outside existing protected areas. The Tyler Prize announcement coincides with SPUN's new program and wider efforts to document and raise awareness of below-ground biodiversity.