Scientists looked 1,640ft below North America's Great Lakes - and found a hidden world of predators, prey and parasites
Scientists have discovered a thriving ecosystem of fungi, tardigrades, and worms 1,640 feet below the surface of North America's Great Lakes. This study challenges the long-held belief that deep subsurface environments are too inhospitable to support complex life.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that global fungal biodiversity and biomass estimates are likely significantly underestimated, potentially altering our understanding of Earth's biological carbon cycle.
It’s a well-known fact that the ground beneath us is bursting with life – at least in the first few metres of topsoil where bugs, microbes and fungi thrive. But hundreds of feet below the surface, scientists long believed there was very little. It was thought these dark, rocky depths were too extreme for most forms of life. Now, that idea has changed.
A new study, led by the University of Michigan’s Quinn Moon and published in T he ISME Journal , has analysed water samples from gas well sites in North America's Great Lakes and discovered a surprising abundance of fungi .
These water samples, which come from deep, subsurface sites as far as 1,640 feet (approximately 500m) below ground, teem with fungi and support complex ecosystems of other tiny organisms.
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