Snow fungi linked with global warming

WASHINGTON - Tiny fungi that live under the Rocky Mountains snowpack get busy reproducing in the winter and may affect global warming, say US scientists.

They found a winter wonderland of fungal species, including many new to science, under the snow of a high-altitude Colorado meadow.

Unlike most life, which hibernates in the winter, these fungi proliferate - creating measurable amounts of nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

The researchers said this could affect global warming - caused to a large degree by both natural and human-made carbon dioxide.

"This is important because these microbes may increase the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and could change estimates of carbon fluctuation on earth," said Steve Schmidt of the University of Colorado, who led the study.

His team, with David Lipson of San Diego State University, checked the populations of bacteria and fungi in the meadow during different seasons.

To their surprise, the fungi populations grew and completely dominated the bacteria in the winter, when the snow was deepest.

This could have implications for the global climate, because about 40 per cent of earth's land surface is covered by snow during the winter.

"The amount of microbial activity is probably very high in places like Canada, Alaska and Siberia that have enormous amounts of snow pack over large areas for extended periods," Dr Schmidt said.

"The presence of previously unknown, higher order lineages of fungi in tundra soils suggests that the cold, snow-covered soils may be an under-appreciated repository of biological diversity."

- REUTERS