Toby Kiers: Lessons from fungi on markets and economics
Toby Kiers investigates cooperation and punishment in nature. Full bio
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as an evolutionary biologist,
if I may say so myself.
talked about together,
as we say in Europe now, fun-GEE?
on how to say this word.
in almost every ecosystem of the world,
millions of traders simultaneously,
they beg, borrow, steal, cheat,
called arbuscule mycorrhizae.
these complex networks underground
thinner than even threads of cotton.
plants simultaneously.
as an underground subway system,
of many meters, even a kilometer,
a shrub, a vine, even a tiny weed,
mycorrhizal fungi.
have I spent the last 10 years of my life
you need to understand
made by plant and fungal partners
that's sugars and fats.
directly from the plant partner.
roughly five billion tons of carbon
this network underground.
is phosphorus and nitrogen,
collected by that fungal network.
into the root cell of the host
called an arbuscule,
as the physical stock exchange
you scratch mine,
of evolution and natural selection.
for amateur traders on this market.
they don't have brains.
that we would consider as thought.
we use behavioral terms
to certain conditions,
into the DNA of the organism.
these trade strategies
the tropical rainforests of Panama.
in this incredible diversity aboveground.
These are tropical rainforests.
in the complexity belowground.
and we knew they were important,
by important I mean important,
that you do see aboveground.
how these networks worked.
interact with certain fungi?
I started my own group,
with this trade market.
by growing a plant in the sun
by growing it in the shade.
with a fungal network.
were consistently good
good and bad trading partners.
to the host plant giving them more carbon.
the reciprocal experiments
with good and bad fungi,
between these trade partners.
conditions for a market to emerge.
is consistently favored.
to understand that, like humans,
are incredibly opportunistic.
once it penetrates into the plant cell,
own nutrient uptake system.
the plant's own ability
of the plant on the fungus.
right around its own root.
good at inflating the price of nutrients.
the nutrients from the soil,
trading them with the host,
to the plant and other competing fungi.
the value goes up.
for the same amount of resources.
seem like the most devious
green leaves to photosynthesize.
that these types of parasites
there's no altruism in this system.
dying or struggling plants
the fungus itself.
if this is good or bad.
cannot judge its own morality.
of ruthless neoliberal market dynamics
of information,
trade principles at this point,
want to take it one step further,
economic dilemmas.
in the effects of inequality.
a defining feature
that everything's unique to us,
in their access to resources.
that can again be meters long
when it's exposed simultaneously
use trade to their advantage
to let you in on a secret:
is incredibly difficult.
important trade deals take place.
a method, a technology,
with nanoparticles,
called quantum dots.
to see the unseen,
at a small scale with their plant hosts.
of fluorescing phosphorus,
of abundance and scarcity
the fungus to trade more.
or "stimulated" or "forced,"
that compared to control conditions,
with higher levels of trade.
a trade partnership in nature
the uncertainty of accessing resources.
exposed to inequality,
from the rich patch of the network,
to the poor side of the network.
were fluorescing in different colors.
was incredibly puzzling.
the poor side of the network?
by first moving the resources
across the network the fungus was trading,
the value of those resources.
dig deeper into how information is shared.
of sophistication,
of sophistication
market conditions across its network
of where and when to trade?
and how it's shared across this network,
dive deep in and get a higher resolution
inside the hyphal network.
is a living fungal network
moving across it.
This video isn't sped up.
under our feet right now.
that I want you to notice.
it switches directions.
these complex flow patterns
trade calculations than us?
borrow models from nature.
on computer algorithms
in split-second time scales.
uncognitive ways.
a living machine.
if we compare and compete
the fall of the dinosaurs?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Toby Kiers - Evolutionary biologistToby Kiers investigates cooperation and punishment in nature.
Why you should listen
Toby Kiers's goal is to understand how symbiotic partnerships form between plants, animals and microbes, and what causes these partnerships to break down. Kiers has shown how plant roots and fungi form complex underground trade networks in which -- similar to human markets -- poor partners are punished and high-performing partners are rewarded. Kiers develops techniques in which she forces organisms to cheat and then tests how their partners respond. She discovered key mechanisms by which plant hosts can evaluate and control microbial communities on their roots. This has led to a better understanding of how hosts can actively manipulate their microbiomes.
Kiers received her PhD from University of California, Davis and is now a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the VU Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She has conducted research in Central America, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, and she is active in global agricultural policy and conservation efforts.
Toby Kiers | Speaker | TED.com