FUNGAL FACILITATION & FIRE
Wildfires have been increasing in frequency and severity, due to human activities and global change. Suppression of controlled-fires has endangered sensitive ecosystems and extreme fire events threaten, damage, and destroy elements of the built environment at wildland-urban interfaces.
Our work aims to restore post-fire sites to emulate the conditions of pre-fire or unburned ecosystems and to evaluate the effects of fire on ecosystem functioning. We accomplish these goals by collaborating with land managers, community groups, universities -- especially Sydney Glassman’s Fungal Ecology Lab at UC Riverside -- and governmental agencies to support post-fire ecological restoration. Through our research, educational initiatives, and collaborations, we evaluate how fire affects fungi and fungal communities, and ultimately investigate how fungi could be leveraged to support or accelerate post-fire ecosystem regeneration.
CoRenewal continues to organize with community groups in the face of unprecedented wildfire intensity to implement post-wildfire microbial inoculations. We implement arrays of experimental treatments to improve native plant regeneration, promote ecosystem health, and support ecological resilience after wildfires in locations ranging from Southern to Northern California, and are actively initiating experiments in both Santa Cruz and Butte County, California. Thanks to generous support from Metabolic Studio and a federal grant awarded to Sydney Glassman’s Lab from the Bureau of Land Management, this ongoing work in Southern California examines the effects of prescribed fire -- and mycorrhizal inoculation -- on post-fire ecosystem resilience and restoration. We are motivated to expand and develop our collaborative network, conduct education and outreach with affected communities, disseminate our findings, and refine our recommendations for applying these methods to support ecological regeneration.
CoRenewal continues to organize with community groups in the face of unprecedented wildfire intensity to implement post-wildfire microbial inoculations. We implement arrays of experimental treatments to improve native plant regeneration, promote ecosystem health, and support ecological resilience after wildfires in locations ranging from Southern to Northern California, and are actively initiating experiments in both Santa Cruz and Butte County, California. Thanks to generous support from Metabolic Studio and a federal grant awarded to Sydney Glassman’s Lab from the Bureau of Land Management, this ongoing work in Southern California examines the effects of prescribed fire -- and mycorrhizal inoculation -- on post-fire ecosystem resilience and restoration. We are motivated to expand and develop our collaborative network, conduct education and outreach with affected communities, disseminate our findings, and refine our recommendations for applying these methods to support ecological regeneration.