Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic networks with the roots of most forest trees, exchanging nutrients drawn from the soil for sugars produced by photosynthesis. Recent research using radioactive tracers has shown that carbon compounds can move between trees of different species through these fungal networks, with healthy trees often transferring resources to seedlings or stressed neighbors.
Based on the passage, which inference is most strongly supported?
- A
Trees of different species rarely interact in any meaningful way
- B
Mycorrhizal fungi consume more carbon than they produce
- C
Seedlings cannot survive without direct sunlight
- Dcheck_circle
Forest ecosystems may function with more cooperative dynamics than tree-level competition alone suggests
Explanation
Cross-species resource sharing through fungal networks supports the idea of cooperative dynamics. A contradicts the passage; C and D are unsupported.