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Trees are failing to adapt to climate change. Losing fungi partners may be why

Certain fungi give trees nutrients and water, but heat and drought put both at risk 

A view looking up at a large tree from the base, showing the looming trunk, the leaves, and the sky.

For trees and fungi that rely on one another to survive, moving into new suitable habitats as climate change progresses is a particularly complicated process.

Michael Rucker/500px, Getty Images

By Rebecca Dzombak

More than one-third of the world’s tree species, from tropical magnolias to mountainous pines, are at risk of extinction.