51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Walk through a woodland in the spring or autumn and you'll sometimes see fungi such as fly agarics and ceps poking up through the soil.

However, underneath the surface this group of species (the ectomychorrhizal or ‘fungus-rooted’ fungi) plays a vital and constant role in maintaining the forest around them. Connected to tree roots by a vast network of tiny threads (called hyphae), these species hugely increase the ability of trees to take up minerals and water from the soil. They also draw down large amounts of carbon fixed by trees and lock it away in the soil.

In April, we are holding a workshop to develop new plans for monitoring the health of forest mycorrhizal communities and of the forests they support. We will be bringing together new research tools developed at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø to map mycorrhizal diversity, increasing amounts of data from soil biomonitoring programmes, and the expertise of a wide range of partners including ICP Forests, IUCN, JNCC, Woodland Trust, Forest Research, British Mycological Society and Earthwatch. Fungi are a  and this workshop will help map out a new initiative in preserving and protecting this little known but vital group.