Biologist Toby Kiers Wins Tyler Prize for Revealing Fungal Networks

Beneath forests, grasslands and farmlands lies a vast, largely unseen system that helps regulate Earth’s climate. American evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers has been awarded the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for transforming scientific understanding of these underground fungal networks and their role in sustaining life on the planet.

Hidden mycorrhizal networks and climate regulation

Mycorrhizal fungi form extensive underground webs that connect with plant roots, enabling a constant exchange of nutrients. Plants supply fungi with carbon-rich sugars and fats, while fungi deliver essential nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. Collectively, these networks draw down more than 13 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, making them one of the planet’s most important natural climate regulators.

From overlooked organisms to vital life-support systems

For decades, fungi were regarded as passive helpers to plants. Kiers’ research overturned this view by demonstrating that these organisms function as active, strategic partners. Her work reframed mycorrhizal networks as a form of biological infrastructure, comparable to a circulatory system that underpins terrestrial ecosystems.

The biological marketplace beneath our feet

In a landmark 2011 study, Kiers showed that fungi behave like traders in a marketplace, responding to supply and demand. Experiments revealed that fungi move nutrients from areas of abundance to scarcity and negotiate better carbon returns from plants in need. This behaviour occurs without a brain or nervous system, raising new questions about how information is processed within living networks.

Imporatnt Facts for Exams

• Mycorrhizal fungi facilitate nutrient exchange between soil and plant roots.
• They help sequester roughly one-third of annual fossil fuel carbon emissions.
• Arbuscules are tree-like fungal structures where nutrient exchange occurs.
• Fungal biodiversity hotspots often lie outside protected ecological zones.

Mapping underground biodiversity for conservation

More recently, Kiers co-led the creation of a global “Underground Atlas” mapping the distribution of mycorrhizal fungi worldwide. The findings revealed that many areas rich in fungal diversity lack formal protection. To address this gap, she co-founded the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, advocating for the inclusion of fungi in conservation policy and training scientists to defend these hidden ecosystems through legal and institutional frameworks.