Miryal® and the Soil-Carbon Connection

​

The essence of all life is the element of carbon. The carbon atom exists in all living tissues of plants.  Most plants, and other below-ground organisms, depend upon the carbon storages in the soil that they live in.

 

The main source of carbon storage in soil is driven by a cycle occurring in our environment from carbon dioxide gas. Carbon dioxide gas is comprised of air and the growth and breakdown of plants. The sun itself powers this cycle. Plants capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into their tissues by means of photosynthesis. It is through this process that plants remove carbon dioxide from the air, give off oxygen and store the carbon as biomass in the soil.

​

How Miryal® Helps

​

Carbon becomes incorporated in the plants root system with our special Miryal® mycorrhizal-produced substance called glomalin. Loaded with carbon, glomalin is a glue-like substance only produced by mycorrhizas found in Miryal®. Glomalin is produced around the outside of the tiny hair-like strands of mycelia of the plants roots to seal them from leaking as they transport nutrients such as water, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium back to the root cells of a plant. This sealing also provides protection for the plant against pathogens.

 

Glomalin also binds organic matter in the soil with sand, silt, and clay to create carbon-rich aggregates which forms healthy, rich and uniform topsoil.

 

Miryal's® mycorrhizae produce glomalin which significantly increases the soil’s ability to hold water without erosion. Glomalin plays a key role in soil aggregate formation and aggregates keep carbon in the soil.

​

Tackling Global Warming

​

Carbon storage (or sequestration) is crucial to help tackle global warming. The most common example in nature is the photosynthesis process for trees and plants. They store carbon as they absorb CO2 during growth. Since they are efficient at soaking up the carbon that would otherwise just get trapped as heat in the atmosphere, this makes plants and trees important in the fight against global warming.

 

What is increasingly being understood though is how critical mycorrhizal fungi is in this process, too. In fact, measurements show that mycorrhizal fungi have been estimated to represent anywhere from five to 20 percent of total plant carbon uptake. Fungi are absolutely crucial for promoting soil aggregation, which makes the soil stronger and more able to withstand disruptive variables, such as disintegration.

​

Here at Miryal®, we're ready to do our part to tackle global warming, one of the defining social purposes of our time.