Mycorrhizal Carbon™
Durable Soil Carbon Sequestration
Mycorrhizae are the main
pathway for carbon into the soil.
Mycorrhizal Carbon sequestration redefines nature-based carbon durability.
Mycorrhizal fungi not only sequester carbon in soil. They lock it into the soil’s geology as Mineral-Associated Organic Carbon (MAOC) – a compound that remains stable for millennia.
Mycorrhizal Carbon sequestration is nature’s original durable CDR.
Mycorrhizae are carbon’s main pathway into the soil
They sequester up to 13.12 Gt of CO2eq annually in uncultivated land, making soil the second largest carbon sink on the planet.
Croplands also hold significant untapped potential, with the capacity to sequester up to 8 Gt of CO2eq annually.
However, the rise of modern agriculture, with intensive tillage and overuse of chemicals, has disrupted soil microbial ecosystems, releasing 785 GtCO2eq into the atmosphere. It is time to restore cropland’s capacity to sequester carbon and unlock soil’s full potential.
Mycorrhizal inoculation has become imperative for revitalizing agricultural ecosystems and drawing carbon back where it belongs – in our soil.
While plants photosynthesize carbon from the atmosphere, mycorrhizae lock it in the soil for the long-term.
- Mycorrhizal plants allocate up to 20% of their photosynthate to mycorrhizae. This means that up to 20% of photosynthesized carbon becomes Mycorrhizal Carbon.
- Up to 60% of plant-derived Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is attributed to mycorrhizae.
- Mycorrhizae facilitate the rapid formation of Mineral-Associated Organic Carbon (MAOC), the most stable form of soil carbon, which makes up to 66–87% of SOC and has been proven durable for millennia.
The 2nd largest carbon sink in the world is in the soil under our feet
Carbon is at a surplus in the air and a deficit in the soil.
Mycorrhizae are rebalancing that relationship.
Pathways to Carbon Permanence
MAOC: The Vehicle for Durable Carbon Sequestration
Organic carbon follows a dual pathway to sequestration, via both Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) and Mineral-Associated Organic Carbon (MAOC). MAOC is considered the most durable component of SOC – able to persist in the soil for millennia. It forms when Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) reaches exposed mineral surfaces, particularly clay, and attaches with covalent bonds. This process is significantly enhanced in the presence of mycorrhizae, which are the most efficient natural pathways for delivering DOC to clay surfaces.
Mycorrhizae support and accelerate this process. MAOC formation can begin within weeks or months under the right conditions: high DOC concentration, sufficient nitrogen availability, clay surface area and the presence of mycorrhizal fungi. In cropland soils, up to 2.85–4.93 tCO₂e per acre per year can be sequestered (most of it in the form of MAOC) when arbuscular mycorrhizae are present.
Initial results from field trials are within the expected range, with more results to come.
The Bottom Line: Significant Mycorrhizal Carbon Sequestration
Croplands have become net carbon emitters, with an estimated 60% of their optimal SOC depleted due to industrial agricultural practices. But mycorrhizae offer a path to reversing this degradation. By catalyzing the formation of MAOC – the most durable form of sequestered soil carbon – mycorrhizae offer a scalable climate solution by unlocking the potential of the globe’s second largest carbon sink.
300 million acres of mycorrhizal corn could sequester up to 1 gigaton of CO₂e annually.
