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The Fungi Facing Extinction and the Conservationists Working Hard to Protect Them

The Fungi Facing Extinction and the Conservationists Working Hard to Protect Them

60-Second Science vor 1 Jahr

As conservation targets, fungi aren’t as appealing as giant pandas. But these scientists explain that the health of Earth’s fungal species is critically important.

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Conservationists are ringing the alarm about the fungi facing
extinction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) Red List features vulnerable pandas and endangered
tortoises, but it also highlights more than 400 fungi species that
are under threat. Gregory Mueller, chief scientist emeritus at the
Chicago Botanic Garden and coordinator of fungal conservation
programs at the IUCN, and Anders Dahlberg, a professor of mycology
at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, explain the
critical role fungi play in our environment and ways we can protect
these threatened species. Recommended reading: Mysterious ‘Dark
Fungi’ Are Lurking Everywhere For fans of The Last of Us, our
2023 podcast on real zombifying fungi E-mail us at
sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or
ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every
day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in
Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by
Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff
DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is
edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and
Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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