Hawkins: Mapping fungal diversity provides a crucial tool for carbon offsets
Dr. Heidi Jane Hawkins · The fungus among us · Jun 29, 2023 · at 32:35
Soil biologist Dr. Heidi Jane Hawkins discusses how incorporating global mycorrhizal fungal maps into land-use planning can improve conservation and carbon credit prioritization.
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“I think there's a lot of exciting potential there because on the cards are various sorts of maps that we can use in conservation planning. So, you know, when you're planning a conservation area, you will usually look at where you've got high biodiversity. You might look at other things like where you've got high soil carbon and then try to make some decisions about, all right, this is a really important area we don't want to lose. And I think that the maps that are being developed at the moment by some of my colleagues, which are about fungal diversity, so diversity of these types of mycorrhizal fungi, but also we're hoping to get some maps, some global maps of the carbon that is in these fungi. And if we can overlay these together with those other areas, those other Spatial layers. I think this just gives us another tool for land use planning. And in the same way, if we are setting up some sort of carbon offsets project in conservation, then this is just another, another tool to help us decide, you know, where should we put our priorities?”
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