An ectomycorrhizal mushroom on the forest floor in Patagonia. Credit: SPUN/Mateo Barrenengoa
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As our planet warms, many species are shifting to different locations as their historical habitats become inhospitable. Trees are no exception—many species' normal ranges are no longer conducive to their health, but their shift to new areas that could better sustain them has been lagging behind those of other plants and animals.

Now, scientists show that the reason for this lag might be found belowground. A study published in PNAS shows that trees, especially those in the far north, may be relocating to soils that don't have the fungal life to support them.

Most plants form belowground partnerships with mycorrhizal fungi, microscopic, filamentous fungi that grow in the soil and connect with plant roots to supply plants with critical nutrients in exchange for carbon. Most large coniferous trees in northern latitudes form relationships with a kind of mycorrhizal fungi called ectomycorrhizal fungi.

"As we examined the future for these symbiotic relationships, we found that 35% of partnerships between trees and fungi that interact with the tree roots would be negatively impacted by climate change," says lead author Michael Van Nuland, a fungal ecologist at the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN).

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