Recycling strategies of fungi can affect how forests store carbon

Published 13 February 2026

Fomitopsis was included in the study (Photo: Dimitrios Floudas)

Some fungi are wasteful, while others recycle – and this can determine how much carbon is stored in a forest. Researchers at Lund University have now revealed how fungi manage their mycelium, the network that builds the structure of fungus. The results could provide new insights into the carbon cycle and climate.

Researchers have investigated how fungi recycle their mycelium when they grow. Using microfluidic chips – units that handle and analyse extremely small volumes of fluid through microscopic channels – the researchers could show that the availability of nutrients among fungi affects how much of the mycelium is recycled.

“The results show that the studied fungi can be divided into groups based on two clear strategies. There is a ‘wasteful’ group that leaves large amounts of inactive mycelium behind, and a ‘frugal’ group that quickly recycles the major part of its mycelium during growth,” says Dimitrios Floudas, researcher in biology at Lund University and BECC member.

The different strategies reflect the ecology of the fungi. The wasteful species colonise short-lived wood substrates such as twigs and branches and often have short lifecycles. Their “live fast, die young” approach means they do not have time to invest energy in reusing nutrients in the remaining mycelium.