It might sound like something out of The Last of Us, but scientists have uncovered a hidden fungal network lurking beneath our feet.
Almost every part of the Earth’s surface is criss–crossed by tiny living threads known as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi.
Now, a study has calculated just how colossal this secret web really is.
Placed end–to–end, scientists say Earth’s fungi network stretches over 68.35 quadrillion miles (110 quadrillion km).
That’s long enough to circle the planet 2.7 trillion times, or to cover the distance from the Earth to the sun one billion times over.
Researchers also found that the network contains approximately 300 megatonnes of carbon – about five times the weight of all living humans on Earth put together.
Lead author Dr Justin Stewart, with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), says: ‘It is hard to overstate the importance and enormity of these fungi.
‘There could be up to 10 meters (33 feet) of mycorrhizal network in just a teaspoon of soil.’
Grasslands such as the Tibetan Plateau are home to 40 per cent of the world’s AM fungi, despite being some of the least protected ecosystems on Earth
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