This Week's Feature
With the horrific wild fires currently raging in California, the question arises "What exactly happens to the microbes during wildfire?"
Here are three ways fires change the ecology of soil microbes and how this then impacts humans:
▪ Morel mushrooms, a culinary delicacy, pop up after fires.
▪ Unusually hot fires wipe out fungi and other microbes that generally survive near the top layer of soil, which impact recovery and regrowth of the forest.
▪ Sometimes, microbes produce a highly toxic compound called methylmercury.
| ▪ | Morel mushrooms, a culinary delicacy, pop up after fires. |
| ▪ | Unusually hot fires wipe out fungi and other microbes that generally survive near the top layer of soil, which impact recovery and regrowth of the forest. |
| ▪ | Sometimes, microbes produce a highly toxic compound called methylmercury. |
Source: What Happens To Soil Microbes After Wildfire?
