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More research on mycorrhiza and microbial interactions with the support of the Swedish Research Council

Published: 01 November 2024

Petra Fransson and Paul Kardol have received grants from the Swedish Research Council to conduct research on organic material and mycorrhiza, as well as plant-soil microbial interactions and carbon cycling.

The Swedish Research Council is Sweden’s largest governmental research funding body and supports research of the highest quality in all scientific fields. They advise the Government on research policy and work to ensure that research benefit society. On October 31, the Swedish Research Council announced funding decisions for several calls within Natural and engineering sciences for 2024. A total of nearly SEK 1.29 billion was granted for the years 2025–2028.

At the Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology at SLU, Petra Fransson and Paul Kardol were awarded funding for four years. Petra Fransson received SEK 4.2 million for the project 'Turnover of Organic Material in Boreal Forest Soil – What Role Does the Mycelium of Mycorrhizal Fungi Play?' and Paul Kardol received SEK 4 million for the project 'From Macroclimate to Microclimate: Plant-Soil Microbial Interactions and Ecosystem Carbon Cycling Under Global Change.

Petra Fransson's research focuses on how plants and their associated microbes interact with soil processes. The long-term goal is to understand the functional link between soil microbial communities and carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems under changing environmental conditions. Photo: Cajsa Lithell.

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Paul Kardol is a Professor at the Department of Forest Mycology and Pathology and researches plant-soil interactions and ecosystem processes. The last ten years he has been investigating the subarctic tundra in northern Sweden and focused on questions related to global warming.

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