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Laura van Galen @laura-vangalen.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

If you are in need of soil microbial data relating to PLFAs or enzyme activities, check out our latest paper that provides an open-access global database of data form around the world. Thanks very much to the long list of collaborators who made this happen! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

A global database of soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids and enzyme activities - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - A global database of soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids and enzyme activities

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Reposted by Laura van Galen

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) @spun.earth · 01/08/2025

Can plant biodiversity predict underground fungal diversity? New study published in Nature Communications finds only 8.8% of arbuscular mycorrhizal and 1.5% of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity hotspots overlap with plant hotspots. Link to paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵

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Laura van Galen @laura-vangalen.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Our paper mapping plant and mycorrhizal fungal diversity correlations is out! Relationships are weak at the global level, but both positive and negative at smaller scales. Plants are not always proxies for fungi — fungi need their own conservation focus @spun.earth @ethz.ch doi.org/10.1038/s414...

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The Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative @thegsbi.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

📣 GSBI's latest blog has just been published 🎉 In this blog, Dr. Laura Van Galen discusses the mystery of dark taxa in ectomycorrhizal fungi 🍄 Read it here 👇 www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath...

globalsoilbiodiversity.org

The problem of “dark taxa” in ectomycorrhizal fungal conservation and research — Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative

Laura van Galen, ETH Zürich (Switzerland) & SPUN (Society for the Protection of Underground Networks)

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Laura van Galen @laura-vangalen.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

It was great to be part of this paper mapping mycorrhizal fungal diversity around the world!

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Reposted by Laura van Galen

Katie Field @katiefield4.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Tom Parker @hutton.ac.uk and I wrote for @theconversation.com discussing why it’s important to find out what’s out there in terms of mycorrhizal fungi following a the revent review in @currentbiology.bsky.social by the @spun.earth team. Read it here: theconversation.com/most-plant-f...

theconversation.com

Most plant-friendly fungi are a mystery to scientists

Most fungi that partner with plants are known only from trace DNA sequences left in soil.

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Reposted by Laura van Galen

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) @spun.earth · 11/06/2025

Have you ever heard of the term “dark taxa”? Published in @currentbiology.bsky.social‬, a new study reveals an astonishing 83% of ectomycorrhizal #fungi are classified as dark taxa, existing only through their DNA sequences and eluding formal classification. 🧵

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Laura van Galen @laura-vangalen.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Our paper shows that most ectomycorrhizal fungal species (83% of OTUs) are "dark taxa": species we detect in DNA, but can't match to known species names. We map global "darkspots" - the parts of the world most in need of more research. @spun.earth @ethz.ch www.cell.com/current-biol...

cell.com

The biogeography and conservation of Earth’s ‘dark’ ectomycorrhizal fungi

In this review, van Galen et al. use global soil metabarcoding databases to evaluate current estimates of the total number of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal species on Earth, outline the current state o...

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Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) @spun.earth · 23/01/2025

Microbes are critical to life on Earth. But they’re unsung heroes, unrecognized by international policies. A new paper by SPUN collaborator @laura-vangalen.bsky.social underlines how indispensable microbe-based technologies are to achieve ALL of the #SDGs. buff.ly/3WwlZBU

A magnifying glass with the SDG colours showing microbes. Text says: "No microbes, no sustainable future. Microbial technologies are critical to reach all UN Sustainable Development Goals."

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