New Method Confirms Importance Of Fungi In Arctic Nitrogen Cycle

A new method to calculate the transfer of nitrogen from Arctic mushrooms to plants is shedding light on how fungi living symbiotically on plant roots and transfer vital nutrients to their hosts. The analytical technique, developed by John E. Hobbie, MBL Distinguished Scientist and co-director of the laboratory’s Ecosystems Center and his son, Erik A. Hobbie of the University of New Hampshire, may be applied to nearly all conifers, oaks, beeches, birch and shrubs such as blueberry and cranberry—all nitrogen-poor ecosystems—and will be an important to