Plants are critical components of Earth’s ecosystems. They fix and store carbon as primary producers on which almost all of the rest of life on earth depends. For plants to be successful they depend on microbial mutualisms, but they are limited by pathogens. Fungi are one critical clade that plays essential roles in plant biology and function. They facilitate plant access to nutrients and water, serve as decay agents that cycle carbon and nutrients through soil and atmosphere, and are major regulators of macro- and microorganismal populations. A comprehensive understanding of plant functional biology hinges upon our understanding of how plants interact with fungi. Although technological advances are improving the detection and identification of fungi associated with plants, there still exist key gaps in our ecological knowledge of this kingdom, especially related to function. Trait-based approaches have been instrumental in strengthening our understanding of plant functional ecology and, as such, provide excellent models for deepening understanding of fungal functional ecology. This session will bridge plant and fungal functional biology by exploring the macroecology of, and molecular insights into, plant-fungal interactions.