When we look at land that has been farmed too hard or cleared for building, it often looks gray and lifeless. It’s like the battery of the earth has run out. But there is a way to recharge it, and the answer is hidden in the way forests build themselves. Scientists are looking at a process called Humus Reconstitution. It’s a big name for a simple idea: using fungi to put the life back into the dirt. Specifically, they are using endomycorrhizal fungi. These aren't the kind of mushrooms you see on a pizza. They live almost entirely underground, hooked into the roots of plants. They form a partnership that has existed for millions of years, and now, we are trying to use that partnership to fix our broken landscapes.
The stars of this show are two types of fungi named Glomus and Rhizophagus. They are experts at living in tough spots. When soil is degraded, it loses its structure. It becomes like dust. To fix it, you need to glue those dust particles back together into
