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Researchers estimate that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi produce about 110 quadrillion kilometres of hyphae in the top 15 centimetres of the world’s soils. That is a modelled global total—not a direct measurement of one continuous web, and not an estimate of every kind of fungus. The Earth-to-Sun comparison describes the scale of the estimated length, not a physical thread scientists could lay out.
What the 110 quadrillion kilometre estimate covers
The figure applies to hyphae—the fine filaments—of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in the top 15 centimetres of global soil. The 2026 study team’s estimate was reported by the University of Sheffield and the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN).
AM fungi form symbiotic relationships with many plant species and interact with plant roots. But the reported total is not a map of threads connecting only tree roots: it estimates a particular group of fungal filaments across the specified soil layer. Nor does it show that all those filaments join into one planet-spanning network.
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How researchers built a global estimate
The team assembled data from more than 16,000 soil samples or cores collected at over 4,000 locations. Researchers used robotic imaging to measure more than 300,000 living AM hyphae, then combined those observations with information about soil chemistry, climate and vegetation. Machine-learning models predicted likely hyphal density in places without samples, according to Sheffield and SPUN.
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SPUN describes the resulting map as a prediction at one-square-kilometre resolution across vegetated continents. That resolution does not mean every square kilometre was measured directly: the map combines observations with modelled predictions. SPUN also notes that predictions are more uncertain in under-sampled areas.
What the findings say about where these fungi occur
Grasslands are a major predicted reservoir
The University of Sheffield reports that grassland ecosystems account for an estimated 40 per cent of Earth’s AM fungal infrastructure. SPUN identifies wild grasslands—including the Tibetan Plateau, Kansas’ Flint Hills Prairie, Florida’s Everglades and South Sudan’s Sudd Wetlands—as places with high average predicted density. These are findings about modelled AM fungal density, not a claim that grasslands hold 40 per cent of all fungi.
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Large-scale croplands show lower predicted density
Sheffield reports approximately 50 per cent lower predicted AM network density in large-scale agricultural croplands than in less intensively managed systems. This is a comparison in predicted density; it does not establish that any particular farming practice caused the difference. The study’s institutional reporting says how specific agricultural practices affect fungal health, carbon storage and nutrient cycling remains poorly understood.
Why the network matters—and what the map does not establish
AM fungi exchange plant-fixed carbon for water and nutrients, and the study reporting says they form symbiotic relationships with approximately 70 per cent of plant species. The global map’s central measurement, however, is predicted hyphal density; it is not a direct measurement of all the ecological effects associated with those relationships.
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The University of Sheffield also reports an estimated AM fungal biomass of approximately 300 megatons of carbon. This is a separate estimate from the 110 quadrillion kilometre length figure. Neither number should be read as a direct census of every fungal filament or as proof of a single connected underground system.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to interpret the headline comparison
At an estimated 110 quadrillion kilometres, the total is often described as enough length to travel from Earth to the Sun nearly a billion times. The analogy helps convey the scale, but the underlying result is an extrapolation from samples and model predictions. It is not a measurement of one thread, nor a claim that scientists traced a continuous route between distant roots.
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