LMU Munich Quantifies Marine Fungi Storing Carbon in Arctic Fjords, Which Hold Over 10% of Seafloor Burials
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 22
LMU Munich Quantifies Marine Fungi Storing Carbon in Arctic Fjords, Which Hold Over 10% of Seafloor Burials
1 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 22
Summary
PLOS Biology research found marine fungi in Norway’s Kongsfjorden sediments directly incorporate dissolved amino acids into biomass, identifying a previously unknown carbon-storage pathway in Arctic fjords.
LMU Munich researchers said fungi-rich samples emitted less carbon dioxide than microbe communities dominated by bacteria and archaea, showing fungi can retain labile organic matter more efficiently.
More than 80 fungal types took part in the process, including 34 aquatic hyphomycetes in the genus Alatospora; only seven amino-acid-consuming fungal varieties were found in nearby soils.
Incubation tests showed the seafloor fungi kept consuming amino acids even under low-oxygen conditions, matching fjord sediments that turn anoxic just millimeters below the surface.
The findings matter because Arctic fjords account for more than 10% of carbon buried beneath the seafloor, while rapid Arctic change leaves these fungal-driven ecosystems poorly understood.