Research

Current and past reasearch projects are described below.

The greenhouse research below, (which we harvested autumn 2021 & have analyzed) is the precursor to another field pilot we were recently awarded through a 2nd SARE Partnership grant. It will be in an ecotone between Diggers Mirth Collective & Intervale Community Farms at the Intervale in Burlington. Stay tuned for updates on: "Mycorrhizal Banks to Enhance Vegetable Yield and Reduce Water Quality Impairment by Mitigating Excessive Soil Phosphorus."

Pictures above of spring 2021 include from top left, across going down: mesocosm setup, sign on greenhouse, intern Paige Sterling preparing mycorrhizal slides, concept design, microplate pipetting for microbial counts, and soil from the fields drying for analysis.

Mycorrhizally Enhanced Phytoremediation of Phosphorus by Riparian Buffer Vegetation: a Mesocosm Study of Uptake and Leaching at UVM Greenhouse, 2021-2022. We investigate phosphorus plant efficiency and leaching in mesocosms with two riparian species, Black Willow +Osier Dogwood (Salix niger, Cornus sericea) grown with and without mycorrhizae, in low and high phosphorus soil. Data includes leachate P, plant uptake P, Mehlich-3 P, microbial functional community, and mycorrhizal counts. Soil is from two organic farms at the Intervale (one high & one low in P).
Objectives:

Understand better the effect of mycorrhizae’s effect on plant uptake in low and high phosphorus soils. This investigates whether in high phosphorus soils plant and mycorrhizae symbiosis still functions to increase plant phosphorus uptake.
Determine whether plant species matter. This is to find out whether distinct restoration plants respond differently when inoculated with mycorrhizae in soils with differing phosphorus levels.
Find out how much phosphorus can be removed when harvesting woody biomass (through cyclical coppicing) grown in high and low phosphorus soils. This is important because ultimately the buffer function of a riparian area depends on how much phosphorus can be removed, not just intercepted.
Find out whether leachate phosphorus is reduced in soils with mycorrhizae.

Thanks (so far) to funders: The Gund Institute for the Environment and the UVM Plant Soil Science Department.

Mycoremediation of Phosphorus in Agricultural Runoff using Mycorrhizal-Plant Associations at Shelburne Farms. 2019-2021. This ecological restoration project aims to facilitate the recovery of a degraded ecotone between a farm and its watershed basin. This pilot project is a case study for farmers with drainage ditches, overgrown in non-native species, which funnel phosphorus (P) into the lake from tile drains, legacy upland phosphorus, and current land practices. The project investigates how agriculture can reduce P runoff through reintroducing ecosystem functions of increased water retention, filtration capacity, and trophic structures. The research plan involves three experimental study sites: restored vegetated (RV) restored vegetated mycorrhizally inoculated (RVM), and control of untouched buckthorn (OIV). UPDATE: this research is now a long term monitoring project thanks to additional funders of Lintilhac Foundation and the UVM College of Agriculture & Life Sciencies James W. Marvin Award in Science & Conservation!! Click on the title of the project for the final report.
PHOSPHORUS:
Field Trials:
A. Investigate whether the 3 treatments (control of original vegetation, native restoration plantings with and without mycorrhizae) within the riparian zone affect soil water SRP concentrations in the root zones.
Hypothesis: There is a difference in SRP concentrations among the following treatments: Original buckthorn dominated (OIV), Restored vegetation without mycorrhizae (RV), Restored vegetation with mycorrhizae (RVM). SRP concentrations vary in soil water in this order OIV>RV>RVM.
B. Determine whether mycorrhizae result in increased P concentrations in willow plant tissue.
Hypothesis: P plant tissue concentrations will be greater in the restored area with mycorrhizae than the area without mycorrhizae.
Lab Trials:
C. To measure the difference in soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations in soil water of each mesocosm treatment (inoculated willow, uninoculated willow, buckthorn).
Hypothesis: The SRP concentrations in soil water will follow this order: inoculated willow<uninoculated willow< buckthorn.
D. To measure the difference in P plant concentrations and biomass between the three treatments.
Hypothesis: P concentrations in plants and biomass will be in this order: RVM>RV>OIV.
HABITAT DIVERSITY:
Field Trials:
E. Determine plant community composition and plant species richness in the three plots.
This is to provide a baseline of the plant community composition for future research.

Thank you to NESARE for funding support, Shelburne Farms for partnering with MycoEvolve, to VYCC for joining us in earthworks and education, to UVM Plant & Soil Sciences Department and several faculty in various other departments for supporting our learning and training, UVM Horticulture Farm for equipment lends, UVM AETL Lab for analyzing our samples, Mike Bald of Got WEEDS for mentoring us in chemical free species removal, and to various amazing community volunteers & homeschool communities who offered crucial labor in manually removing buckthorn, putting up fences, and building the doors to our research site! As this transitions to a long term monitoring project, we are now also studying succession and what reconciliation of colonial agriculture pollution. Stay tuned for updates.

Below are pictures starting Spring 2020: site preparation, soil pasteurization & inoculation, planting, ecological design,,..installation

Colchester Mycoremediation Pilot Project (4/19-6/20)
Focus: watershed health restoration
Involved: installing fungal hugelcultures & planting mycorrhizally dipped riparian species on town-owned lands in the Smith Hollow Brook sub watershed; continued testing, monitoring, and documentation throughout process.
Project aims: to determine whether these strategies uptake phosphorus and/or degrade escherichia coli (E.coli), in waterways deemed by VT to be impaired by both pollutants.
Partners: The Colchester Stormwater Utility has partnered with MycoEvolve
Research questions:
- Do the mycorrhizal riparian buffers reduce the Phosphorus delivered to the waterway?
- Do Trametes versicolor (Turkey Tail), Lentinula edodes (Shitake) reduce E.coli from the waterway?
- Can this green infrastructure handle effectively large inundations in spring snow melt?
- What is the efficacy of the filters for different size storms?
- Are there seasonal variations in the efficacy of the filters?
Spawn source: VT Myconode (now called Mycolab, Mushroom Mountain & Smug Town
Team: Karen Adams, Dr. Joshua Faulkner, Jason McCune-Sanders, Jess Rubin, Lauren Weston, Dr. Josef Gorres, Leif Olson, Sue Van Hook, Intern Mary Robideau, and amazing crew of volunteers
THIS PROJECT IS COMPLETED. FINAL REPORT IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
See below photos of the river, assessment, testing, inoculation and tree planting workshops, maps, and our stellar volunteer crews

EPSCOR BREE: Mycoremediation Pilot for Watershed Restoration 2018 - 2019.
Our objectives were to:

Assess how King/Queen Stropharia (Stropharia rugoso-annulata) fungi form mycelial mats.
Gather quantitative data to determine if Stropharia rugoso-annulata (SRA) mycelial mats reduce CFU’s of E. coli in dairy effluent slurry.
Determine if mycelial mats of SRA affect nutrient cycling.

Here is a link to our research findings.

We found:
- Stropharia rugoso-amnulata did reduce E.coli #'s
- Both direct contact with SRA mats & enzyme exudates reduced E. coli #s
- Mycelial mats potentially mineralize and release Phosphorus
- Mycelial mats were potential nursery sites for other microbes
More lab research is needed before we would apply them to local hot spots.
Due to other projects in process, we pause in this line of research to focus on working with primary saprophytes and mycorrhizae in mycofiltration potential.

​Research

Research