“We Are Legion”

“We are legion.” Mushrooms, or Fungi, are everywhere.  They are an essential component of healthy soil. As old as the oldest plants, and far older than animals, fungi occupy their own branch in the tree of evolution. Without fungi, green plants would perish. They restrict the length of life and prevent abnormal reproduction of both plans and animals. Without fungi, neither plants nor animals would survive. We have much to learn about how to live productively with our fungal friends, but one novel partnership has proven successful in the Swiss Alps.

As reported in Earth, January/February 2017 at p. 36, mycorrhizal fungi used to inoculate plant roots on steep, eroding, gravelly hillsides stabilized the hillsides within a few years of inoculation. It turns out that fungi can be an eco-engineering tool to stabilize steep slopes.

As Paul Hallett, a soil scientist at the University of Aberdeen Scotland, reported, the study shows that “there are benefits to using a fungal inoculum in restoring a quite degraded alpine environment.”  The next step is to establish more field sites to test a “wide assortment of environments exploring the influence of both plans and microbial diversity on stabilization.”
The Washington State Soil Health Committee hopes to find a good field site to demonstrate an eco-friendly way to mitigate slide hazards, especially on sites disturbed by construction, logging, or other human activities.