Ecto and Ericoid fungi mushrooms have elements to fend off climate change Think Progress reported Thursday.
The two mushroom species have the power to adjust up to 70 percent of the amount of carbon that goes into the ground or up in the air Think Progress reported.
"This study shows that trees and decomposers are really connected via these mycorrhizal fungi, and that you can't accurately predict future carbon cycling without thinking about how these two groups interact," Colin Averill, a graduate student at the University of Texas, and main author of the study told Time. "We need to think of these systems holistically."
The nitrogen in the soil gives the microorganisms nutrients, and decomposes the non-living particles before returning them to the sky Think Progress reported.
EEM Fungi then take a portion of the nitrogen from the ground and change it into nutrients for the plants, ultimately clearing the dirt of nitrogen Think Progress reported.
The plant loses its life when the Nitrogen is taken out, and minimizes the chances of Carbon returning to the air when it re-circulates underground with the EEM Fungi Think Progress reported.
"This analysis clearly establishes that the different types of symbiotic fungi that colonize plant roots exert major control on the global carbon cycle, which has not been fully appreciated or demonstrated until now," Averill told Time.com.
Scientists from the University of Texas, Boston University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute used computer models to examine information on over 200 soils across the world Time.com reported.
The teams discovered that soils with the ecto- and ericoid mycorrhizal (EEM) fungi have up to 70 percent extra carbon than soils with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Time.com reported.
EEM fungi makes additional nitrogen that breaks down enzymes limiting carbon from going back into the air, and disintegrating non-living plant particles Times reported.
