computer science

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Society for the Protection of Underground Networks rather than just read about it. In short: The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) is a science-based initiative to map and protect the mycorrhizal networks that regulate the Earth's climate and ecosystems. The organization was founded in 2021.

Key takeaways

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Society for the Protection of Underground Networks to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Society for the Protection of Underground Networks from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) is a science-based initiative to map and protect the mycorrhizal networks that regulate the Earth's climate and ecosystems. The organization was founded in 2021. The Executive Director is Toby Kiers, an evolutionary biologist at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The stated goals of The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) are mapping, protecting, and harnessing mycorrhizal fungi. SPUN is activating mycologists around the world, working with local collaborators to obtain core soil samples from all types of ecosystems. The goal is to survey, locate, and identify the diverse domains of mycelia and create a fungal atlas, a biological reference guide to ensure their protection.

Research

The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks samples soil and extracts and sequences fungal DNA in order to learn which fungi are present. The geo-located fungal taxa are then fed into a machine learning model that predicts belowground fungal biodiversity and biomass on a global scale.

Expeditions In order to identify mycorrhizal fungi present at a given location, The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks takes soil samples for analysis.To date, SPUN has organized expeditions to Ecuador, Colombia, Italy, Palmyra Atoll, Chile, Kazakhstan, Corsica, Ghana, Lesotho, Alaska, Brazil, Tunisia, Peru, and Greece. A number of factors are considered when choosing expedition locations, including sampling intensity at a location, predicted biodiversity, and feasibility of permitting. Locations or eco-regions that have had less intense sampling in the past are given priority. For certain groups of mycorrhizal fungi, SPUN found that over 70% of Earth's ecosystems were unsampled as of 2025.

Sampling

SPUN follows a standardized sampling protocol (see External links below) for collecting soil samples. Soil cores are taken at nine points in a geolocated grid. These soil cores are then homogenized into a single soil sample. Metadata concerning botanical life, land use, and collaborators are recorded.

DNA extraction and sequencing In a lab, fungal DNA is extracted from the soil samples. This DNA is sent to be sequenced and then run through a bioinformatics pipeline that assigns a fungal taxon to each sequence present.

Mapping The geo-located fungal taxa from the samples are then fed into a machine learning model that predicts below-ground fungal biodiversity on a global scale. These maps are used to determine future expedition locations and provide recommendations for conservation priorities.

Biodiversity Mapping In 2025 the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks released an interactive map of Earth's mycorrhizal fungi called "Mycorrhizal Biodiversity Map V1.0". The Underground Atlas, as it is also called, maps predictive biodiversity of fungal communities across the planet. Utilising as many as 2.8 billion fungal DNA sequences from 130 countries, the map's makers demonstrate that more than 90% of the planet's mycorrhizal ecosystems are unprotected.

Carbon Research A study led by Justin Stewart, an evolutionary biologist at SPUN, estimated that for just a single group of fungi, AMF, the resource transfer of carbon from plants to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi sustains a standing stock of 110 quadrillion kilometers of hyphae in Earth's topsoils, roughly 1 billion times the distance from Earth to the Sun, and weighing roughly 5 times the biomass of all humans on Earth. This work has developed into the Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map, which found that wild grasslands hold approximately 40% of Earth's hyphal networks. The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks scientists and collaborators also published a paper that estimates that 13 billion tons of CO2 is allocated to mycorrhizal fungi (multiple groups) annually.

Underground Explorers (Program) In addition to SPUN-led sampling efforts the organization runs a program called Underground Explorers, that funds mycorrhizal research in under explored regions. As of August 2024 the program has awarded grants to 92 researchers in 43 different countries. 82% of grantees are based in the Global South.

Advisors The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks works closely with a number of scientists and leaders from around the world. SPUN's advisory board members are Merlin Sheldrake, Giuliana Furci, Michael Pollan, and Paul Hawken. Jane Goodall was a board member until her death in 2025.

Conservation partners The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks works with The Nature Conservancy, the Fungi Foundation, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and The Association for Conservation of Biodiversity in Kazakhstan among others.

Funders The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks has received funding from philanthropic family foundations including The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the Schmidt Family Foundation, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, and The Mighty Arrow Family Foundation among others.

References

External links Official website SPUN standardized sampling protocol Underground Atlas: Mycorrhizal Biodiversity Map V1.0

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Society for the Protection of Underground Networks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Society for the Protection of Underground Networks claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Society for the Protection of Underground Networks before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Society for the Protection of Underground Networks ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Society for the Protection of Underground Networks

In research: Society for the Protection of Underground Networks appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Society for the Protection of Underground Networks in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Society for the Protection of Underground Networks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Environmental organizations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Society for the Protection of Underground Networks outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Society for the Protection of Underground Networks in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Society for the Protection of Underground Networks means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Society for the Protection of Underground Networks out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Society for the Protection of Underground Networks in simple terms?

Why does Society for the Protection of Underground Networks matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Society for the Protection of Underground Networks?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Society for the Protection of Underground Networks.