Soils can help mitigating climate change because they can store large amounts of carbon. To realize this potential, we need to include soil fungal diversity (i.e. changes in the number and identity of species present in soil) because these microorganisms transform soil carbon into compounds that alter its persistence. In this project, I develop a new method to measure how fungal diversity impact carbon persistence in soils. The novelty of this project is that it will scale fungal carbon-use traits to fungal network morphology. Soil fungi form networks of interconnected filaments which determine how they use carbon in soils. I use this method to understand carbon persistence in a Finnish boreal forest. Ultimately, this research will help to develop management practices that will enhance the capacity of soils to store carbon and – ideally – mitigate the effects of climate change.

2023

2027