The first atlas of mushrooms in France has just been published. It reveals an unsuspected world beneath our feet: billions of yeasts, mycorrhizal fungi, filamentous mycelia. These microorganisms play a vital role in biodiversity. They recycle organic matter, contribute to the stability of soil structure and the development of plants. A look back at an extraordinary inventory.
This article is taken from the monthly Sciences et Avenir n°931, dated September 2024.
A gram of soil contains several billion microorganisms, in particular several tens of millions of mushroom cells. Visually, these have little to do with the porcini mushrooms, chanterelles and other milk caps that emerge from the soil in the fall. This is because mushrooms represent much more than the 5,000 tons picked every year in French forests and meadows.
In the classification of living organisms, they are called fungi. Since 1969, they have been recognized as a “kingdom”, equal to plants and animals. But less than 10% produce complex structures with a stem and cap. Most fungi are actually microscopic, at the cell scale for yeasts for example. And very poorly understood! Until now in any case, because the first “French Atlas of Soil Fungi has just been published (Biotope ed.).
This is a faithful snapshot of the world of “fungal” that has just been provided by specialists in soil microbial ecology from the agroecology laboratories of the National Institute for Research on Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) in Dijon and soil monitoring at INRAE in Orléans. This sum details the density and diversity of the 270 orders (in the current state of knowledge since new ones are discovered every month) that make up the kingdom of fungi. And both are exceptional, so much so that according to the latest assessments, the soil contains 59% of the total biodiversity of our planet.
“The reproduction and dispersal strategies of fungi are as diverse as they are ingenious”
The role of fungi is essential: recycling of organic matter, stability of soil structure, development of plants, regeneration of fertility, decontamination… Without this universe, which astrophysicist Hubert Reeves said was more diverse, ri[…]
- sciencesetavenir.fr
