Below the Chihuahuan Desert in southeastern New Mexico, lies an extensive system of limestone caves, among them the famed Carlsbad Cavern, home to one of North America's largest underground chambers. But there is more to this subterranean world than gigantic geological formations. It is also ground zero for a microbial war that's been raging for thousands of years, right beneath our feet.

In kitchens around the world, truffles represent culinary excellence and prestige, but in the forest they're just another flora fighting to exist, using somewhat…unusual methods. In the lush woodland of the Pacific Northwest, these modest mushrooms' adaptation strategies are promoting not only their own survival, but that of their forest ecosystem at large.