Pradejoniensis [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
This article was originally published on Cosmos.
“As carbon dioxide emissions increase in the atmosphere, scientists around the world are looking at solutions such as carbon sequestration. This process captures carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere for long-term storage.
A group of Australian farmers is working with researchers to harness the power of fungi in soils. In the dry conditions of the Australian landscape, increasing soil carbon levels can help with water retention, boosting conditions for agriculture.
At the same time, by capturing carbon farmers can help contribute to addressing the problem of increasing greenhouse gases, climate change and global warming.
Farmers Mick Wettenhall and Jack Farthing have completed planting extensive trial plots using newly isolated fungi for mass carbon sequestration on their mixed livestock and grains properties at their respective farms in Trangie and Forbes, both in New South Wales.
The fungi were originally isolated in soils around the Sydney Basin and trialled in laboratory and glasshouse research by a team led by Peter McGee from the University of Sydney, Australia.
The results, reported in a paper published in the journal Soil Research, showed that particular strains of melanised endophytic fungi (MEF) have the potential to increase levels of organic carbon in controlled soil laboratory experiments…”
Read on at: Cosmos.
