Can Fungi Save This Endangered Hawaiian Tree?

The Colorado-based mycology center Boulder Mushroom is spreading fungi mycelium — the underground, root-looking part of a mushroom — across forest floors that were thinned to mitigate wildfires. The mushrooms quicken the pace at which sawdust and other potential fire fuel decays and improve soil health.

In October 2020, the Rhino and Forest Fund in Malaysian Borneo began to buy land once cleared for oil palm plantations, and reforests and rehabilitates the tracts into wildlife corridors. After replanting 40 tree species in the last 3 years, an increase in several threatened species has been documented traveling through the project sites.

A garden at Boulder, Colorado’s Museum of Natural History is being used to track the effects of smog and educate visitors as well. Called an “ozone garden,” this plot – and other like it around the world – shows researchers and visitors how plants are damaged by ground-level ozone levels. Beyond education, the researchers behind the ozone garden are using it to show how crops and food availability will diminish as climate change continues.

Cassava, a root plant that feeds and supports over 800 million people across the globe, is ready for an improvement. As part of the Next Generation Cassava Breeding project, scientists are exploring how to increase the plant’s yield and help it withstand climate conditions to feed more people. Through hydroponics and technological testing of seed varieties, cassava is finally getting the attention and funding it needs.

The Chithari River Restoration Project (CRRP) is reviving local aquaculture, biodiversity, and wildlife in Kerala, India. Supported by local community organizing and resources from government-backed Agro Service Centers, the project established a biodiversity management committee responsible for removing invasive species and reinforcing riverbeds with native plants and fertilizers. In its first year, 70% of the planted vegetation has taken root, earning praise from state government facilitators. Kerala is the first state in India to establish biodiversity committees across all 1,200 of its local bodies.

A seed bank was established in Sidi Ifni, a farming community in Morocco, to revive drought-ridden land by enabling the cultivation of traditional, drought-resistant crops. An accompanying training program is helping farmers market these crops to improve their livelihoods.

The United States National Park Service is planting giant sequoia tree seedlings in groves that were decimated by extreme wildfires in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The effort aims to preserve the endangered species as the organization doesn’t believe the trees in these areas will regenerate on their own.

The startup Puna Bio collects microbes that live on the high-altitude La Puna plateau and turns them into a product that farmers can apply to soybeans to increase yields and improve soil health. Since they adapted to survive in such a harsh climate, the microbes can survive depleted soil and extreme weather to pass along key nutrients and antioxidants to crops.

Communities in Ecuador are building a “bioeconomy” through ecotourism and sustainable agriculture instead of relying on oil extraction. This can help protect the country’s biodiversity and increase locals’ incomes.

Coffee growers in Oaxaca, Mexico, are renovating their plantations into agroforestry systems to adapt to the effects of climate change. The new growing style integrates native trees and shrubs to diversify the fields. This makes the plants more resistant to unpredictable weather, diseases, and pests.