The future is fungal

Fungi are quietly transforming everything from healthy soils and food production to sustainable materials. Sapphire McMullan-Fisher and Roz Hart, authors of Fungi for Land, explore how these overlooked organisms could play a vital role in a more sustainable future.

Fungi are having a moment. Once dismissed as little more than mushrooms or mould, they are increasingly recognised as powerful allies in creating more sustainable food systems, healthier soils and even biodegradable building materials.

They seem almost magical, appearing overnight as if from nowhere. Yet, most of a fungus lives hidden beneath our feet, in soil, logs and even inside animals at all times.

The mushrooms we see are simply the reproductive structures of fungi. The living body of a fungus is made up of microscopic, chitin-based threads called hyphae. Together, these threads form an underground network known as mycelium.

A single patch of soil can contain mycelium from many different fungal species, all intertwined in the same space. Imagine a bowl of different-coloured spaghetti, with each colour representing a different species. That’s what lies beneath your feet.

More than mushrooms
Scientists estimate there may be more than four million fungal species, yet fewer than 150,000 have been named so far. Molecular technologies are rapidly revealing this hidden diversity.

Of course, humans have long used fungi to improve the taste and nutrition of food. Think of yeasts—single-celled fungi essential for bread and alcohol—and the remarkable diversity of mushrooms safely foraged for generations by cultures with deep, ongoing connections to the land.

However, identification skills matter. As many Australians are all too aware, even a small amount of a toxic mushroom in a meal can be fatal, which is why the safest option is to buy farmed mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms are recycler fungi, grown on straw, coffee grounds and other locally sourced organic materials. It’s a simple but powerful example of how fungi can transform waste into valuable resources while supporting Australia’s transition to a circular economy.

Growers are also careful about where their substrates come from—and for good reason. Fungi are effective bioaccumulators, drawing nutrients from their surroundings through their mycelium networks and digestive enzymes. Unfortunately, this also means pollutants such as heavy metals can accumulate in mushrooms if they are present in the source material. This is one reason experienced foragers avoid collecting mushrooms from roadsides.

From waste to resource
Some fungi are opening up exciting possibilities for sustainable materials. These eco-friendly biomaterials are grown by combining fungal mycelium with agricultural by-products and other organic waste. As the mycelium grows, it digests and binds the waste into a lightweight, fully biodegradable material.

Mycelium-based acoustic tiles and cladding have been shown to be sustainable, non-toxic alternatives to synthetic building materials, with excellent fire-retardant and thermal-insulating properties. When exposed to extreme heat, they self-extinguish and char rather than combust or release toxic chemicals.

Beyond building materials, researchers are also exploring how different fungi can break down difficult waste streams, including cigarette butts and plastics. The next frontier is harnessing communities of fungi and other microbes to help tackle some of our biggest waste challenges.

The hidden life of healthy soils
Fungi are not just potential waste solvers—they are critical to healthy landscapes, from broad ecosystems right down to the soil beneath our feet. Healthy landscapes support diverse fungal communities that help store carbon.

Healthy soils depend on diverse communities of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that support food webs ranging from tiny collembola, mites and nematodes through to worms, insects and mammals. Many of Australia’s unique ground-dwelling mammals—including bandicoots, bilbies, bettongs and echidnas—rely in part on fungi as food. Their digging is equally important. As they forage, these animals turn over soil and organic matter, burying organic debris, stimulating decomposition, improving water infiltration and reducing flammability.

Many of the fungi eaten by these mammals are truffle-like species whose spores are spread through the animals’ droppings. This benefits plants too, as most truffle-like fungi are mycorrhizal partners that help plants access water and nutrients.

Mycorrhizal fungi have evolved alongside plants for hundreds of millions of years. Their fine hyphae can reach water and nutrients that plant roots cannot, while plants provide the fungi with sugars produced through photosynthesis. Most healthy plants partner with many different mycorrhizal fungi.

Advances in molecular technologies are revealing an astonishing diversity of soil fungi, including ancient but previously unknown groups such as Archaeorhizomyces and Serendipita. These fungi play important roles in healthy ecosystems, from supporting Australia’s native terrestrial orchids to forming underground networks that help plants thrive. The more we learn about soil fungi, the clearer it becomes that this hidden diversity is fundamental to healthy soils.

Some of the fungi that keep soils healthy include:

• Recycler fungi—break down organic matter and return nutrients to the soil.
• Arbuscular mycorrhizas—form partnerships with plant roots and help create soil aggregates that improve soil structure and fertility.
• Ectomycorrhizas—the main fungal partners of many trees and shrubs. In Australia, many are truffle-like species that provide food for ground-dwelling mammals and birds, including brush-turkeys, lyrebirds and malleefowl.
• Other mycorrhizas—including fungi that support terrestrial orchids and ericoid mycorrhizas associated with heathland plants.
• Nematode-trapping fungi—use sticky or mechanical traps to capture nematodes, helping maintain balanced soil communities.
• Protective soil fungi—such as Trichoderma, which defend plant roots, improve nutrient uptake and suppress harmful pathogens.

Equally important are biocrusts—the living communities that blanket healthy arid and semi-arid landscapes. Often called the “living skin” of the Earth, biocrusts naturally fix carbon and nitrogen, stabilise soils against erosion, retain moisture and improve water infiltration. They are made up of fungi, including lichens, along with cyanobacteria, mosses and liverworts, all working together in just a few millimetres of space.

What can you do to support local fungi in gardens and bushlands?

Let nature be a little messy
Where you can, leave fallen leaves, twigs, logs and standing dead trees in place. Uniform mulches tend to favour fewer—and sometimes unwanted—fungal species. A mix of natural debris supports a greater diversity of fungi, each with different substrate preferences. Together, they recycle nutrients and provide food for insects and other invertebrates, which in turn feed birds, reptiles and frogs.

Protect and plant local
Look after native vegetation and include a diversity of locally native plants in gardens and restoration projects. These plants partner with locally adapted fungi—including mycorrhizas around their roots and beneficial endophytes within their tissues—forming relationships that support the h