After a month of searching the soil, the elusive and mysterious
mycorrhizal fungus has been sighted at Santa Catalina Island. These fungi may
be difficult to see due to an unobtrusive underground life-style, but it's not
due to a lack of representation. On close observation, mycorrhizal fungi can
be found attached to the roots of most plants all over the world. As part of
a senior project for Bard College, I traveled
to Catalina over January 1999 to study the mycorrhizal fungi of the Island and
their link with the ecological restoration of the Middle Ranch Hayfields.
Mycorrhizal fungi are valuable in the restoration of native plant species
to environmentally stressed soil areas because they can give the native plants
a competitive edge over opportunistic invading plant species. This occurs through
an intimate relationship between the fungi and plant roots which results in an
exchange of nutrients that benefits them both. Check out www.mycorrhiza.com for
more information on mycorrhiza and California's native plants.
My aim was to determine if these symbiotic relationships were worth cultivating
with native plants at the Middle Ranch restoration sites. This project involved
a comparison of soil from a Middle Ranch Hayfield restoration site with the soil
of a nearby slope containing undisturbed coastal scrub vegetation. Soil from
this undisturbed site could potentially be used to add restorationally valuable
kinds of mycorrhizal fungi to the Hayfields. I grew two native Catalina species,
the California fuschia, Epilobium canum, and Purple Needlegrass, Nasella
pulchra, in both types of soil with the hypothesis that the plants would
form more extensive mycorrhiza and therefore grow better in undisturbed soil.
Unfortunately, my results were largely inconclusive. This is a result of problems
perfecting fungal spore and root colonization identification techniques, as well
as unexpected plant biomass data. However, I hope this research may serve as
a preliminary study for future work along a similar vein.
Contact me (SockInBox@aol.com) for
more information or check out my complete report, "Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
and Ecological Restoration," at the Conservancy's Native Plant Nursery:
I have high hopes that someday a more expanded internship program could allow
greater numbers of students to experience research on the island in a variety
of disciplines. Volunteering with the Catalina Island Conservancy exceeded all
my expectations. Middle Ranch is an amazing place to live and work. The warm
welcome into the Catalina community I received from staff and other volunteers
made this project possible and enabled me share my learning experience with others.
During my free time I was also very busy experiencing other wonders of Santa
Catalina Island, including a whale watch, blue moon barbecue, coastal hikes,
and other volunteer restoration work at Middle Ranch. |
