“What we want to do is track how fungal communities are changing under climate change,” says Kiers. “It will allow us to predict what we need to protect and what we can conserve.” The research could also help scientists anticipate how fungal communities may adapt to climate change in regions susceptible to droughts and fires. Of the estimated 2.2-3.8m species of fungi on Earth, only about 600 have been evaluated for the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Of these, about half are considered threatened. “If we don’t understand what is going on underground and how they’re influencing what we do care about, like chestnut trees and flowers and bees and honey, we’re just missing such a huge part of the picture.” The burning question about fungi: what happens to them in extreme heat?
Kinda dry, though. When Toby Kiers and a group of fungi experts hiked the Apennine mountains in northern Italy last July, the country was experiencing its worst drought for 70 years.
