The study system consists of 30 islands of different sizes in the two large lakes, Lake Uddjaure and Lake Hornavan, near Arjeplog in northern Sweden. Credit: Karina Clemmensen

(by Bob Yirka , Phys.org ) —A new study undertaken by a diverse group of scientists in Sweden has found that contrary to popular belief, most of the carbon that is sequestered in northern boreal forests comes about due to fungi that live on and in tree roots, rather than via dead needles, moss and leaf matter. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes their findings after taking soil samples from 30 islands in two lakes in northern Sweden….

…In their study they found that 47 percent of soil carbon found on large island samples came about due to fungi, as did a whopping 70 percent of carbon in small island soil samples. Read More …