Mycorrhizal Carbon Storage Explained

When talking about mycorrhizal carbon storage, the way mycorrhizal fungi capture and keep atmospheric carbon in the soil. Also known as fungal carbon sequestration, it plays a crucial role in the planet’s carbon budget. In simple terms, the fungi act like tiny storage units, pulling carbon from plant roots and placing it into the ground where it can stay for decades.

Another key player is mycorrhiza, the symbiotic partnership between plant roots and fungal networks. Mycorrhiza provides the pathways that let carbon move from leaves down into the soil. This partnership requires healthy forest ecosystems, because dense, undisturbed trees feed the fungi with sugars, and the fungi repay the debt by locking carbon deep underground. The relationship illustrates the semantic triple: Mycorrhizal carbon storage requires forest ecosystems. When forests thrive, the fungal partners expand, and more carbon gets stored.

The third entity we should spotlight is soil carbon sequestration, the broader process of moving carbon from the atmosphere into soil organic matter. Soil carbon sequestration influences mycorrhizal carbon storage because the fungi add stable compounds to the soil matrix, making the carbon less likely to return to the air. Think of it as a relay race: plants hand off sugars to fungi, fungi hand off carbon to the soil, and the soil holds onto it for the long haul.

To understand how all this works, we need to look at fungal hyphae, the thread‑like fibers that spread through the soil like an underground internet. Hyphae create a massive surface area that grabs carbon compounds and packages them into glomalin and other stable substances. This process enables the storage of carbon in forms that resist decomposition. In other words, fungal hyphae are the engines driving mycorrhizal carbon storage, linking plant productivity directly to long‑term carbon sinks.

So far we’ve defined the central idea, introduced mycorrhiza, soil carbon sequestration, forest ecosystems, and fungal hyphae, and shown how they connect. Below you’ll find a curated set of articles that dive deeper into each of these pieces—covering everything from the chemistry of glomalin to practical ways to support mycorrhizal networks in your own garden. Keep reading to see how scientists quantify carbon locked by fungi, what management practices boost storage, and why these hidden allies matter for climate action.