--- title: "The Hidden Network Keeping Forests Alive: How Fungi Manage Water and Carbon" audience: meisterpilze.de blog / online presence tone: expert but accessible author: "Luis Veloso (Chemist) & Jonas, Meisterpilze — written by people who cultivate fungi professionally" date_published: 2026-06-21 date_updated: 2026-06-21 sources: 8 peer-reviewed papers (PubMed-indexed journals, via Consensus) --- # The Hidden Network Keeping Forests Alive: How Fungi Manage Water and Carbon **Quick answer:** Yes — fungi measurably help forests retain water and store carbon. Mycorrhizal fungi increase soil water-holding capacity in drought-prone soils and channel roughly 13 gigatons of CO₂-equivalent into soil each year — about 36% of annual global fossil-fuel emissions. Wood-decay fungi (the group oyster, lion's mane, and shiitake belong to) recycle deadwood and raise soil moisture around it. Details and full citations below. *By Luis Veloso (Chemist) and Jonas (Biologist), co-founders of Meisterpilze. Published June 21, 2026.* When people picture a forest's defenses against drought and climate change, they usually picture trees: deep roots, thick bark, leaf canopies. Few picture fungi. Yet beneath every healthy forest floor runs a network of fungal threads, called mycelium, that quietly does as much for water retention and carbon storage as the trees above it. ## A sponge built underground Mycorrhizal fungi form partnerships with plant roots that are roughly 400 million years old. In exchange for sugars from the plant, the fungus extends a vast network of microscopic threads through the soil, reaching water and nutrients far beyond what roots alone could access. That network changes the physical structure of the soil itself. A 2023 study in *Mycorrhiza* found that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi alter soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity in a soil-specific way — increasing water storage in sandy soils that would otherwise dry out quickly, while improving drainage in heavier soils prone to waterlogging (Pauwels et al., 2023). A broader review of the evidence reached a similar conclusion: mycorrhizal fungi consistently correlate with higher soil water-retention capacity, better infiltration, and lower erosion, largely because their hyphae bind soil particles into stable aggregates and add organic matter as they grow (Querejeta, 2017). This matters most exactly when it matters most: during drought. Research on forest stands under water stress shows that severe or prolonged drought can break down the mycorrhizal network itself, cutting trees off from the very water-transport system they depend on — and opening the door to pathogens and parasitic plants that exploit a weakened host (Boczoń et al., 2021). In other words, a forest's drought resilience is, in part, a function of how intact its underground fungal network is. ## An overlooked carbon pathway Fungi's second job is carbon. Roughly 75% of the carbon stored on land sits belowground, and mycorrhizal fungi sit at the entry point of much of it. A 2023 analysis in *Current Biology* pulled together nearly 200 datasets to estimate, for the first time at a global scale, how much carbon plants send to their fungal partners: an estimated 13.12 gigatons of CO₂-equivalent per year — about 36% of current annual global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels (Hawkins et al., 2023). Some of that carbon cycles back quickly; some of it is converted by the fungi into more stable, long-lived forms that stay locked in the soil for years (Mason et al., 2023; Hannula et al., 2022). The authors of the Current Biology study argue this pathway is significant enough that it should be built into climate and carbon-cycle models, not treated as a footnote. ## The decomposers: a second, complementary system Not every important fungus in a forest is a mycorrhizal partner to a living tree. When a tree dies or drops a branch, an entirely different group of fungi takes over: wood-decay fungi, the same broad family that includes the oyster, lion's mane, and shiitake mushrooms we cultivate. Their job is to break down deadwood — one of the largest carbon pools in any forest. Studies tracking this process directly show that fungi and wood-colonizing bacteria split the work: fungi drive the breakdown of deadwood's toughest, most recalcitrant components, while bacteria handle nitrogen accumulation, with each group depending on the other (Tláskal et al., 2021). The result is not just carbon release — decaying wood also raises the moisture content of the soil immediately around it and boosts microbial enzyme activity, effectively creating small, persistently moist zones in the forest floor (Górski et al., 2025). Forest management research increasingly recommends leaving deadwood in place specifically to preserve this function as climate change increases drought and disturbance pressure. ## Why this matters Two distinct fungal systems — one partnering with living roots, one breaking down dead ones — work in parallel to do what no single tree can do alone: hold water in the soil through dry periods and keep carbon out of the atmosphere for longer. Neither system gets much attention compared to the trees themselves, but both are, by the numbers, doing climate-relevant work at a massive scale. It's also why we think mushrooms deserve a bigger role in how people think about forests and climate — not just as food, but as one of the most consequential organisms in the ecosystems we depend on. --- ## FAQ **Do fungi help forests retain water in the soil?** Yes. Mycorrhizal fungi change soil structure and hydraulic properties, increasing water storage in sandy, drought-prone soils and improving drainage in heavier soils (Pauwels et al., 2023; Querejeta, 2017). **How much carbon do mycorrhizal fungi store?** An estimated 13.12 gigatons of CO₂-equivalent per year flows from plants into mycorrhizal fungi globally — roughly 36% of annual fossil-fuel CO₂ emissions (Hawkins et al., 2023). **What happens to forest fungi during drought?** Severe or prolonged drought can break down the mycorrhizal network itself, cutting trees off from their fungal water-transport system and increasing vulnerability to pathogens (Boczoń et al., 2021). **Are mushrooms like oyster, lion's mane, and shiitake involved in this?** Yes, indirectly. These are wood-decay fungi, a different group from mycorrhizal fungi. In forests, wood-decay fungi break down deadwood, increase soil moisture around it, and recycle carbon and nitrogen (Tláskal et al., 2021; Górski et al., 2025). **Why don't fungi get more attention in climate science?** Most carbon and water models focus on visible plant biomass. Researchers (Hawkins et al., 2023) argue the belowground fungal carbon pathway is large enough to warrant inclusion in climate and carbon-cycle models, but it remains under-measured. --- ### Sources 1. Pauwels, R. et al. (2023). An arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus alters soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity in a soil texture specific way. *Mycorrhiza*. https://consensus.app/papers/details/8cd126399a0458b6bb10e5ffd6c6cfe5/ 2. Querejeta, J. (2017). Soil Water Retention and Availability as Influenced by Mycorrhizal Symbiosis: Consequences for Individual Plants, Communities, and Ecosystems. https://consensus.app/papers/details/6abcf5cf55f350f698e43d7009508012/ 3. Boczoń, A. et al. (2021). Drought in the forest breaks plant–fungi interactions. *European Journal of Forest Research*. https://consensus.app/papers/details/a5f0e65b034e582caf144d718bcda996/ 4. Hawkins, H. et al. (2023). Mycorrhizal mycelium as a global carbon pool. *Current Biology*. https://consensus.app/papers/details/f02f359f8ff45810922875f4abfa9d81/ 5. Mason, A. R. et al. (2023). Microbial solutions to soil carbon sequestration. *Journal of Cleaner Production*. https://consensus.app/papers/details/41a0de6c7b7a51a1b9a65a80e584103b/ 6. Hannula, S. E. et al. (2022). Will fungi solve the carbon dilemma? *Geoderma*. https://consensus.app/papers/details/837a0d162ba15669926f1e258378674e/ 7. Tláskal, V. et al. (2021). Complementary Roles of Wood-Inhabiting Fungi and Bacteria Facilitate Deadwood Decomposition. *mSystems*. https://consensus.app/papers/details/2bd40130c391574998453175ee67a7b3/ 8. Górski, A. et al. (2025). Decaying Spruce Wood as a Factor in Soil Carbon and Energy Flow Through Microbial Communities. *Environmental Microbiology Reports*. https://consensus.app/papers/details/45738e1264db5fb7a6cefc9f49fd259d/ *All sources peer-reviewed, retrieved via Consensus (Semantic Scholar / PubMed / Scopus index).* meisterpilze Erlangen | Pilzsubstrat, Pilzbrut & Zuchtsets kaufen
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