Mycorrhizal networks, vast underground systems linking plants and fungi, function like hidden marketplaces. Plants provide carbon in the form of sugars, while fungi trade back essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and water. These exchanges follow supply-and-demand dynamics, with different fungal strategies shaping ecosystems: arbuscular fungi dominate agriculture, while ectomycorrhizal fungi thrive in forests. Networks connect multiple plants, redistributing resources but also allowing cheating and manipulation. Climate change threatens their stability, yet harnessing them in farming and forestry could boost resilience. These ancient trading systems, operating for 400 million years, reveal nature’s enduring economic logic.
Read more: Science Array
Read more: Science Array
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