A leap forward in geographic scale for forest ectomycorrhizal fungi

The functionally critical role of mycorrhizal fungi in forest ecosystems, and the imminent threat of climate change that may act to alter mycorrhizal functional biodiversity, means there is an urgent need for a regional to continental-scale assessment of mycorrhizal distributions. Until recently, it had not been possible to cost-effectively assess mycorrhizas precisely and accurately. A large-scale survey of ICP Forests plots would be only the first stage in answering many of the questions outlined above, but it is essential if future studies are going to address these questions with hypothesis-driven research in a cohesive manner, rather than remain independent for lack of a unified approach. The chance to utilise the vast network of biomonitoring plots at this time is a remarkable opportunity because it minimises the logistics and costs associated with achieving such an enormous effort and provides a rare stable — past and future — ground for forest ecosystem scientific investigation. In the face of rapid global change, we finally have an opportunity to accurately integrate mycorrhizal distribution data with long-term environmental monitoring, providing a basic understanding of functionally crucial organisms, and at the same time creating an invaluable resource for future research.