Wood Wide Web

By now, almost everyone has heard about the “wood wide web” and the pivotal role that soil fungi are said to play in maintaining healthy plants and ecosystems. Mycorrhizae have gotten a lot of good press lately, and nowadays you can’t visit a garden center without seeing them as an ingredient on a bag of potting mix or a nutrient label. While mycorrhizae are important members of the microbial community, how much of what we hear about them holds up to scrutiny and how much is unearned hype?

In this talk we’ll cover what exactly mycorrhizal fungi are, what role they play in nature, and what they can and can’t do for your garden. Along the way we’ll touch on the active scientific debate over what the “wood wide web” can actually do, discuss some of the more sensational claims that have made it from the scientific literature into pop culture, and dig into the actual studies investigating whether products containing mycorrhizae and other inoculants live up to their labels.

Presenter, Tim Berry, PhD is a research soil scientist and occasional instructor working in the Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences in at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. His primary research interest is understanding how soil microorganisms break down complex carbon substances including the charred material produced by wildfire.

The event will be held in the Drumlin Conference Room. It will be recorded. If you are unable to make it, but have reserved a seat, please go back into Eventbrite and cancel your ticket to make it available for others.