Northern Arizona University: Mycorrhizal Fungi boost nutritional value up the Food Chain

Plants, and bacteria, and fungi! Oh My!

Image - Wanderlust Travel

Nancy Johnson collecting soil samples in the Serengeti

Nancy Johnson, an Northern Arizona University ecology professor, contributed field samples to a global-scale study of the biogeography of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, also known as AM fungi. Johnson is listed as an international co-author on the paper. These fungi support 80 percent of plant species, including crops, by capturing nutrients from soil. Johnson said understanding how different species of AM fungi are distributed around the globe is important because of the vital roles they play in the ecosystem. These researchers gathered 1,014 fungi samples from six continents, and what they discovered was surprising. “Our study suggests that most species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are found all over the world, which is rather unusual among organisms,” Johnson said. “The question is, how do they get everywhere?”

Abstract: The global biogeography of microorganisms remains largely unknown, in contrast to the well-studied diversity patterns of macroorganisms. We used arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus DNA from 1014 plant-root samples collected worldwide to determine the global distribution of these plant symbionts. We found that AM fungal communities reflected local environmental conditions and the spatial distance between sites. However, despite AM fungi apparently possessing limited dispersal ability, we found 93% of taxa on multiple continents and 34% on all six continents surveyed. This contrasts with the high spatial turnover of other fungal taxa and with the endemism displayed by plants at the global scale. We suggest that the biogeography of AM fungi is driven by unexpectedly efficient dispersal, probably via both abiotic and biotic vectors, including humans.

WCS WILDLIFE PICS OF 2017

The complex Serengeti ecosystem, which spans 12,000 square miles extending from northern Tanzania into southwestern Kenya, is home to millions of animals, including 70 species of large mammals. It is a hotspot for mammal diversity—including herbivores such as wildebeest, zebra and gazelles that graze on grasses and trees, as well as lions, crocodiles, leopards and hyenas that survive by preying on the grazing herbivores.  

A (New Study) published in the Journal of Ecology by a team of Northern Arizona University researchers shows the food web supporting this remarkable variety of wildlife would appear very different without the nutrients supplied by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. The interdisciplinary study, authored by graduate students in NAU’s School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability  —Bo Stevens, Jeffrey Propster, Andrew Abraham and Chase Ridenour—along with assistant professor of informatics, computing, and cyber systems Christopher Doughty and Regents’ Professor of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability Nancy Johnson, quantifies the importance of AM fungi in the soil of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

Illustration by Victor Leshyk

Artist’s depiction of the Serengeti food web with normal AM (left)
 and a hypothetical food web without nutrient inputs from
 these important symbioses (right).

AM fungi, a type of mycorrhizal fungi, penetrate the roots of grasses and other plants native to the Serengeti. Considered natural biofertilizers, AM fungi provide their host plants with water, nutrients and pathogen protection in exchange for photosynthesis. The symbiotic relationship between AM fungi and plants, which has evolved for millions of years, is critical for the uptake of essential plant nutrients such as phosphorus. In turn, the nutritional quality of the plains’ grasses and trees influences the biomass of the herbivores and their predators.  

By creating an ecosystem simulation that enabled the researchers to measure the biomass of AM fungi across a natural soil fertility gradient and estimate the contribution of mycorrhizal symbioses to the biomass of all plants and animals in the Serengeti, the researchers were able to estimate the animal biomass that results from phosphorus supplied to plants through AM fungi.  

This study shows the contribution of mycorrhizal symbioses to the growth and nutritional quality of grasses cascades through the biomass of large grazing mammals and their predators. Although AM fungi amount to less than 1 percent of the overall living biomass in the Serengeti, their predicted nutrient inputs into the food web doubled animal biomass.  

“It’s really surprising that a small group of microbes can have such a large impact on an entire ecosystem,” said Stevens, lead author of the study. “We always knew that mycorrhizal fungi were important for grass nutrition in the Serengeti. Now we can say how important they are for the nutrition of animals up the food chain, from zebras to lions.”

(Source)

"The answer my friend is isn't blowing in the wind"

Image - Roeselien Raimond

Image - Earthcrew Inc

The main subject of this research was certainly mycorrhizal fungi, but not the type that produces truffle or mushroom formation that we are used to seeing. This fungi was endo-mycorrhizal fungi which produce large propagules which don't necessarily move through soil pores as easily as the tinier microscopic spore of the ecto-mycorrhizal truffle which can explode with a cloud of brown powder we see in real life. This spore dust can even travel for miles and land in numerous places along the way. These spores are so tiny that they can move and be washed downward into the soil during rain storms where roots can make contact and colonize. But not the propagules of endo-mycorrhizal. Personally I always thought their movement was facilitated by animals like pocket gophers, maybe various insects etc. But this research was still interesting given that we accept endemic species (plants, animals, birds, fish, etc) around the globe to specific geographic locations, but many of these same identical endo-mycorrhizal species apparently are everywhere around the globe. How did that happen ??? 😲 Given that they don't exactly blow in the wind like all the exploding puffball ecto-mycorrhizal spores, how do they move and travel ??? Maybe it's the soil scientists doing it with their field trip sample collections 😄

Take this species of endo-mycorrhizae in the photo at left here is found in most popular commercial Mycorrhizal inoculent blends offered by many companies. Glomus deserticola fungi are found everywhere around the globe, even Siberia. I assume it was given the name because it was first recorded and given the name from it's first documented location in the southwest. It's an important fungal species, because they are found in nearly all terrestrial habitats, including arable land, deserts, grasslands, temperate, boreal, tropical forests, and tundras. Anyway the mode of movement is still very intriguing and fascinating. Next time you hear someone recite an old chant of, "You don't need to inoculate because the spores are just everywhere out there in the air," don't believe them. Inoculate anyway. 😉 Now, let's consider another important possibility of spore travel that the researchers mentioned above left out.

NASA Earth Observatory: "Smoke's Surprising Secret"

credit: US Air Force photo

 Forrest Mims II is a very well known, "Citizen Scientist," who had no formal academic training in science. And yet Forrest Mims has had a successful career as a science author, researcher, lecturer and syndicated columnist. His series of electronics books sold over 7 million copies and he is widely regarded as one of the world's most prolific citizen scientists. He does scientific studies in many fields using instruments he designs and makes and he has been published in a number of peer-reviewed journals, often with professional scientists as co-authors. Much of his research deals with ecology and environmental science. A simple instrument he developed to measure the ozone layer earned him a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 1993. In December 2008 Discover named Mims one of the "50 Best Brains in Science." But's it's Forrest Mims' daughter who steals the show here with her simple experiment on how fungal spores can travel great distances which is related to the subject I'm posting here. It's ashame the researchers never referenced this important experiment published by NASA.

(Image by Mark Gray, GSFC)

(Photograph by Forrest M. Mims III)

Sarah Mims, a teenager from Seguin, Texas, studied how smoke and dust that arrived over her hometown from thousands of miles away from Mexico's. By her senior year in high school, she had already made some surprising discoveries. This Satellite image from the days Mims conducted her experiments revealed smoke from fires in Central America flowing over the Gulf of Mexico and into the Texas sky. Blue-gray smoke stretches from the bottom center of the image toward Texas at the upper left. The bright region extending towards the top of the image from the Yucatan Peninsula is the sun glinting off the ocean’s surface. This image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. 

(Digital Scans by Sarah A. Mims)

Sarah Mims exposed Petrifilms that you see in the photo above outside of her Texas home in April and May of 2002. She was expecting to find micro-organisms carried by Asian dust. Instead, colonies of bacteria and mold (right) grew on days when the air was filled with smoke, not dust. Under a microscope Sarah Mims found fungal spores along with chunks of black carbon or the individual particles of smoke. Once she knew the micro-organisms were associated with smoke, not dust, she needed to find their source and that's wheere NASA's satellite images helped pinpoint the source of the smoke. So this is yet another travel means of microbes globally. How endomycorrhizal propagules reach the soil surface from underground is another mystery. Still, this is interesting.

(Source: Earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/SmokeSecret)

Earlier Relevant References on the same subject from the Northern Arizona University

(Image courtesy Victor O. Leshyk)

"Ectomycorrhizal fungi (the mushrooms connected to the roots of the tree) increase the uptake of nitrogen by the plant, even when that nutrient is scarce in soils. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (associated with the grass roots on the left) do not provide that advantage to their host."

NAU’s Hungate co-authors research report published in ‘Science’

Credit: mdd/Shutterstock

Study of Serengeti soil may provide model for increasing productivity of croplands in U.S. (2011)

Mycorrhizal Fungal Blend Producing companies

Mycorrhizal Applications Inc

Image - Valent

Valent: MycoApply® EndoPrimeTM

How dumping the "Argument from Poor Design" dogma might just help the planet

Fact: Trashing Designs found in Nature for the biased purpose of scoring Brownie Points against conventional Religious Fundies has had a Degenerative Trashing effect on the Earth's natural world

Illustratiom by bookofbadarguments.com

https://bookofbadarguments.com

The online 'Book of Bad Arguments' link above is an interesting read if you've got the time. It really illustrates just how twisted this world has become when it comes to people coming up with all sorts creative ways to justify another failed worldview. The lengths and idiocy to which many people use to win arguments or pimp a worldview is nothing but time wasting because it so often falls well short of reality. Today I watched a video posted by the California Native Plant Society's chapter of San Diego. It's an organization which is dedicated to the promotion of native California plants. But only Cal-Natives. That's kool, I love cal-native plants. But like so many organizations championing any kind of cause today, they are generally intolerant of any other types of ecosystem plants being introduced into the urban landscape within California. Okay, I get not wanting something to escape into the wild and becoming a terrible invasive problem, but not every exotic plant is going to be a problem plant. Well anyway, watch the video below, it's only about a couple of minutes.

I understand the benefits of planting natives into the historical range for the purpose of attracting all manner of native wildlife to your landscape. My mum's yard has both natives and non-invasive non-native plants accompanying them which have similar environmental requirements. The various local wildlife (birds, insects, reptiles, animals, etc) also utilize them as well. We've never experienced any problems. But now take special note here of what the narrator in the video, Lisa Novick, stated in this quote below:

"What if people said, 'We should just wait for the Monarchs to throw a random gene that will make their caterpillars be able to eat something other than Milkweed. I'm not willing to take that chance."

Seriously, a random mutated gene ??? Do people still think this way now ??? This old archaic dogma is so outdated in view of newer understanding. Unbelievable, especially in this day and age with regards the increased study and understanding of how the genome really works and the part of genetics termed "epigentics" which in actual fact purposefully engineers incredibly ordered changes influenced by any number of stimuli from environmental cues as opposed to the past historical ignorant belief of random copying errors caused by dumb luck creating wonderful amazing outcomes for no logical reason or goal oriented purpose. But why would she use such unscientific nonsense terminology which started out decades ago as nothing more than some group minority's worldview ??? Brilliant scientific research by dedicated serious scientists have long since proven this to be false. Random copying errors do not innovate, they cause sickness, diseases, cancers & death. Nevertheless, such religious dogmas diehard. This thinking is so ingrained into the average psyche of many folks as a consequence of early indoctrination at elementary school. Clearly many people later in life need to go through some type deprogramming therapy before being re-educated about how our natural world really works. The big question here is, how does one go about experimenting or testing for random mutations caused by dumb luck and expect to obtain any beneficial innovation which results in practical application ??? You don't and that's why we experience a natural world where various ecosystems that are completely unraveling before our very eyes because we have a Scientific Orthodoxy out there promoting nature as flawed, imperfect and badly designed and that only the superior intellect of humans can fix those flaws and save us. But insisting Nature is flawed only seems mask the gross imperfection of human ignorance on the subject about how our natural world really works. Take for example the world's biotechnology industry. Biotechs justify their existence and methods of technology because they say changes in life happen all the time by means of something called Horizontal Gene Transfer. Hence their transgenic manipulation of organisms is justified in their worldview because it happens in Nature anyway. Except that leads to the assumption that their services really are needed or the world fails. Take the following example below of this subject, "Argument from Poor Design" which like Junk DNA, does nothing more than hide and sweep under the rug the scientific community's past ignorance and stupidity from decades past. Take note of the first person most responsibe about Argument from Poor Design. His writings in his first book are loaded with what he imagined as perfect examples.

One would have to ask, what scientific experiment the Father of Evolutionary Theory, Charles Darwin, use or create in arriving at this conclusion ??? Indeed, how could any scientist have created a verifiable repeatable empical data laced experiment to get into the mind and motivations of an intelligent agency which he already has a bias against in believing a Creator doesn't even exist ??? And by what code of morality is Darwin using ??? By what authority does his version of morality equate truth ??? Really Chuck ??? His followers have grabbed hold of this same strategy and taken this narrative to new lows. I hope everyone understands Nature cannot be judged by human views of morality or in other words, what's right and what's wrong. For example take this grossly flawed blind faith assertion, CRISPR Co-Inventor Jennifer Doudna: 

"It amazes me to realize that we are on the cusp of a new era in the history of life on earth—an age in which humans exercise an unprecedented level of control over the genetic composition of the species that coinhabit our planet. It won’t be long before CRISPR allows us to bend nature to our will in the way that humans have dreamed of since prehistory."

In that very same interview which contains that quote above, Jennifer Doudna, also spoke about ridding the planet of disease carrying mosquitoes thru CRISPR where sterilized GMO Mosquitoes would make sterile eggs and kill off the majority. Since then and against protest they have already done their dirty work and released their Franken-Mosquitoes despite angry cries not to release. And the results ???

UPDATE: September 17, 2019 (Below)

TheScientist.com: GM Mosquito Progeny Not Dying in Brazil: Study

Today's GMO apologetics are also based and indeed justified on this unscientific dogma, "Argument from Poor Design," which is exactly why these geneticists, biologists and other researchers employed by the various biotechnology companies confidently justify all their valuable time playing the gene manipulation game because in their corrupted view of the natural world, it's Nature that is flawed, poorly designed and only their collective credentialed genius can fix those glaring imperfections. The reality is, very few of these Biogeneticist engineers have any clue or understanding of how whole plant ecosystems actually function and maintain themselves out in the wild. Yet, in their worldview, Nature is still flawed and only their collective genius can provide a correction. Seriously ??? 😨 Take a look at this promotional advertisement below on Monsanto's work to gene manipulate crop plants to withstand the present and future global warming.

Advertisement - Monsanto

This is Monsanto's latest development of their infamous "Droughtgard Hybrid" crop seeds. They've informed the public that they only want to feed the world and there's this new problem that hinders this goal and it's called Global Warming. Okay, I understand that. But take a look again at their promotional advert above. They explain that in order to create drought resistant crops like maize or corn or soy, they need to acquire a special stress response gene for encoding cold shock protein B (cspB) from a soil bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, and then insert it into some corn variety's genome. It's also known as “RNA Chaperone” RNA Chaperone from Bacillus subtilis. Yet one wonders why they went to all that time and expense in developing such drought tolerance when Nature has already had these drought resistance tools for countless 1000s of years ??? 😲 Research time is lengthy and expensive because the seed patenting most often runs into the millions of dollars for biotechs. The real problem is that these researchers are in charge of providing their corporations with a regular consumable product. That ensures an annual profit year after year. Utilizing a practice and tool from Nature is free and that is unacceptable. These transgenic seeds are also engineered to work in conjunction with a plethora of other consumables like synthetic science-based fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, miticides, etc. This further ensures huge annual profits for their employers. Yet nature while complex, takes an easier road and is far more sustainable when left alone. Take this mycorrhizal Corn field experiment below by the University of Florida on drought resistance and heat stress with Corn. Here, nutrient and water uptake are improved between 200% to 800% depending on environmental soil conditions and drought tolerance is achieved in one single season, not decades of transgenic manipulation and cross breeding.

Image - Mycorrhizal Applications Inc

So what do you observe above here. Clearly there is a stark contrast. lower left and upper right are Corn whose root systems are colonized by mycorrhizal fungi and creating a network or grid of mycelial strands extended well beyond the plant root zone. At the upper left and lower right is the science-based conventionally grown corn which as been fertilized with synthetic fertilizers. This soil also is a sandy soil which is not known for it's water holding capacity. Do you notice the fungal strands moving under the soil ??? No ??? At the bottom right look at the first two corn rows in the control corn. Notice how thet have improved in vigor over their partners in the conventionally grown field ??? The mycorrhizal fungi has move from the healthy field square on the left and colonized their rot systems. There is no elusive drought gene for Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta or any other Biotech to acquire and insert in the genome of crop seeds. It's a scam and it effects the health of our planet, 

I have absolutely no problem with any kind of business venture researching, developing, manufacturing and selling a product for profit. But at least when a company like Mycorrhizal Applications Inc develops, manufactures and sells a product for profit, their product doesn't trash our planet. This reminds me of that discussion line of debate from a scene in the Sci-Fi film Jurassic Park. 😆

John Hammond: "All major theme parks have delays. When they opened Disneyland in 1956, nothing worked!" 

Dr. Ian Malcolm: "Yeah, but, John, if The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists."

Oddly enough, most all of these biotechs know and understand that the microbial community within the soil is the most efficient and safest way to accomplish good farming, but until now have refused to admit this to the public just how dirty their formula for industrial farming really has been to our natural world. Interestingly, some are now attempting a public relations stunt to colour green their image as promoting that they were always on board with microbes all along, but they then spin how it may not have always looked that way at the beginning. It's all about smokescreen folks. It's about public relations green washing. The facts bare out that their version of worldview about nature being inept and flawed has brought incredible ruin to our planet through their industrial rose coloured vision of things. 

Now while many are now just starting to admit designs copied from nature really have brought incredible advancement, economical savings and enhanced ecological benefits, more has to be done in a hurry. Here are just three more examples of incredible design copying from Nature which has saved some industries millions of dollars and helped vastly improve the environment.

Airbus A380 winglets, inspired by the Steppe Eagle

During an Eagle's flight, the feathers on the tips of it's wings are practically verticle. This configuration gives maximum lift with minimum wing length. Engineers have studied such soaring birds such as eagles with a view of designing more efficient aircraft. The introduction of modified wing design that includes winglets has improved aircraft performance by as much as 15%. Planes can now fly farther and carry more passengers while saving fuel. In the decade following the introduction of up turned wing tips, airlines worldwide saved six thousand seven hundred million liters or two billion gallons of jet fuel. But the eagleäs amazing design is not limited to flight. As the eagle descends upon it's prey, it's eyes continuously adjust to maintain sharp focus throughout the approach. What man made camera ever comes close to this rapid refocus ?

Mercedes-Benz bionic car

"The concept models of the Mercedes-Benz bionic car are appearing as part of the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which showcases innovations in the fields of design and science. 

Bionic Car ConceptOne of the highlights of the exhibition is the Mercedes-Benz bionic car, which was first unveiled in June 2005 at the Innovation Symposium organized by Daimler AG in the US capital, Washington DC.   

Engineers, designers and biologists at Mercedes-Benz worked hand in hand to develop the Mercedes-Benz bionic car. Its template was a sea dweller from tropical latitudes: Ostracion Cubicus – more commonly known as the boxfish.  

Despite its unusual-looking shape, the fish is extremely aerodynamic and can therefore move using a minimal amount of energy. It is also able to withstand high pressures and, thanks to an outer skin consisting of hexagonal bone plates, can survive unscathed following collisions with corals or other sea dwellers."

(Source: carbodydesign.com)

"The Shinkansen Bullet Train which belongs to the West Japan Railway Company is the fastest train in the world which can travel up to 200 miles per hour.   

While they were designing the bullet train, they had a massive problem. The train was very noisy. Every time the train came out from the tunnel, the air pressure changed which resulted in large thunder claps. This noise caused residents a quarter of a mile away to complain.   

The train’s chief engineer and a keen bird-watcher turned to nature to see if they could find something travels quickly and smoothly between two very different substances. They found out that the shape of a kingfisher’s beak was ideal for this situation. Their beaks were ideal because a kingfisher will dive into a body of water to catch a fish with very little splash.   

Once they had copied the shape of the kingfisher’s beak, they modelled the front of the train from that design. Not only did this design result in a quieter train, it also made the train use 15% less electricity while travelling at a speed 10% faster than what it was originally designed for."

(Source: technologybeyond)

Suddenly now we are seeing a surge in all types of Biomimcry organizations claiming they've known all along about the benefits of designs found in nature, but they often refuse to disassociate themselves from the "Argument from Poor Design" dogma. When I've read some of the nature design celebratory articles published by the Biomimicry Institute and their author Janine Benyus, and asked this question aout past worldviews, all I ever get are 'cricket sounds.' Any time I've ever pressed any of the other so-called Biomimicry organizations about this same subject, they too simply refuse to respond. It would appear that deep down inside there is just a little bit of nostalgia for that old time religion. But that old time religion's days are numbered. The Earth can't handle their worldviews anymore. While there has been some push forward in a positive direction from the examples above, it's more than likely not enough. This respect for natural designs in nature should have been followed decades ago.

Now for those who think I'm kidding or exaggerating about the degenerative side effects of pimping one worldview over another causing a serious infection within the Scientific Community, take real close look back at an old well known animated TV commercial from 1977 by Chevron promoting their Ortho Agro-Chemical Division's products which were created & justified based on the blind faith religious concept of Nature being poorly designed until their industrial science White Lab Coats stepped in and saved the day. Seriously, pay real close attention to an example of their twisted worldview they had of nature back in the 1970s where they actually marketed to the public that Nature was completely harsh, unforgiving and inept at growing things and making the consumer wonder how life was even able function prior to these guys at ORTHO coming along and saving the day with their synthetic chemical wonders.

Those of us who are old enough to remember these worldview re-programming indoctrination infomercials saw this barage of propaganda day in and day out for a couple of decades. This infection came out of World War II when bomb  producing chemical corporations could use those same bomb chemicals to grow plants. In the 1950s this was called the Green Revolution and everybody fell for it because Scientists said it was okay. Nobody questioned anything. For many today the answer for correcting the mistakes of the past is unbridled angry Eco-Activism protesting everything and anything that they imagine to be offensive. But that isn't a viable answer either. I'm finding that eco-activism is turning more and more people off towards an ecological stewardship of the earth far more than it's converting the public to get on board. Why ??? Because we are now living in a time where people find it hip to promote themselves as overly sensitive and outraged at the drop of a hat. Any little news report item today that even remotely has the mere appearance of being out of place according to the new rules of definition shell gaming, must be watered down, because even if it's the glaring in your face factual indisputable Truth people still freak out. There are however many sincere ecology minded people who genuinely do care about the environment, but they are paying the price for some of the people they've invited or have allowed to come on board their Cat Stevens "Peace Train" to fight the evil industrialists. Here's one glaring spotlight example below that's recently been in the News and caused incredible anarchy which has resulted in terrible ecological destruction.

Trust me, many of the Native Americans did not feel the same way about the white outside protesters who took the initiative and invited themselves to the Dakota 'Burning Man Festival', I mean Standing Rock Pipeline Protest. Actually the Native American tribal elders were so upset by the outrageous conduct of all the white protester who came out from New York, California and Oregon who brought in loud music, booze, drugs and sponged off the donated food. When the protesters left they left abandoned 200+ plus junk cars they used to get there and many cars even ended up leaking oil in the very river they were supposedly claiming to want to save. Not a happy outcome when the Natives were left with the responsibility and cost of cleaning up their filth. And amazingly these anarchists are supposed to by the ultimate Ecology People.

Here's an interesting observation by Dr. Michio Kaku and the Problem with the learning system in school especially where science is concerned.

 

Stay tuned! 😸

In Pursuit of the Perfect Lawn (& Why I've always hated Lawns as a Landscaper)

We've all known them. You know, those weekend warrior Joe Six-Packs in your neighbourhood with that well stocked garage loaded with all manner of tools, machines, building materials and chemicals for any Home & Garden improvement project who are always obsessed with that perfect showcase lawn ?

New York Times
"A screen grab of an EddieGram. The Briggs & Stratton Corporation is using the character of Engine Eddie to encourage consumers to take better care of their lawns."

In my opinion, the only perfect urban landscape lawn that I believe most people are looking for could only be a sort of generic artificial version found only at an IKEA store. As a professional landscaper from the southwest, of all the duties in landscape installation and maintenance I always hated the lawns the most. It wasn't just those tenants who let their dogies doo doo on the grass the morning of mowing day, but mainly the wasted expense of fertilizing, watering, weed control. thatching, aerating, mowing etc etc etc. Especially watering where it's not for free as elsewhere there in the southwest. If I had my way, all lawns would have been removed at all those commercial living complexes I was in charge of maintaining. In replacement I'd have placed beautiful low growing natives.

http://www.artificial-grass-lawns.com

What is it about an artificial unnatural look that people find so attractive ? Mostly, I believe Americans have been indoctrinated through an elaborate manipulation of Advertising which stretches all the way back to the 1950s when the American Dream of owning a tract home was created after the WWII. Many a military man after the war never wanted to go back to the miserable cold winters of back eastern seaboard or Midwest after being stationed out in the west. That was the case with my dad, his cousins and friend from Iowa. But that didn't mean they rejected everything back east. They still wanted those green lush looking lawns that are so common and popular back there, where many people use a riding lawn mower to maintain their half acre lawnscapes.

Moving over here to Sweden and observing other parts of Europe was an eye opener for me when it came to lawns. See this photo on the left ? If any American gardener or landscaper allowed such flowers as Dandelions to proliferate in his lawn, his neighbours would practically brand him a Communist. Absolutely nobody where I come from ever allows Dandelions to take up any   ecosystem residency within their lawns. Why, over at the local Home Improvement stores all sorts of specialized chemical cocktails have been created to terminate such evil lifeforms. Well, evil in the sense of warped upbringing when it comes to nature and gardening. But it's funny, almost every lawn here is allowed to have countless tiny wildflowers within the yard's lawn. Interestingly, Dandelions are really only a Springtime event. Maybe a month or two at most and then we don't see them until the next year, but then other flowers just seem to take their place as the season progresses. In my previous home I had Red Flax, both Purple and White Clovers, Strawberry plants and some type of small daisy [Roman Chamomile] which grew in the grass. This past Summer I was tempted to take the camera with me when I took our Chihuahua out for a walk in the giant grassy park out behind our apartment. The lawns here are always loaded with a huge variety of flowers all blooming at differing times of the growing season. Nobody here ever sprays to kill them so that only a monoculture of grass blades to remain present. What's more, no one here fertilizes their lawns that I have ever seen. The ground underneath is rich in microbiological component materials which provide everything these low cut grassy meadows need. The lawns are also loaded with tonnes of earthworms which are constantly aerating the soils under the lawns. While I always disliked lawns previously, I now prefer these types of natural lawns. The other thing different here is that they mow and leave the clippings on the lawn. It's so wet here that these clippings break down very quickly. This is not the case out in the southwest where ongoing fertilization and constant watering are necessary to keep green grasses growing and grow they do, excessively so. That's why there are mountains of grass clippings to be dealt with in either vegetation landfills or compost piles where too much nitrogen rich grasses easily catch fire. Below are some examples from my lawns at my old house in Biskopsgatan on Hissingen.

Trine Harritz Larsen, Dänemark

Above are the type of white small daisy type of flowers which are a  Roman Chamomile that would bloom all summer long in the grasses on the south sunny side of my house. But in the photo below you can see some of the Redflax has moved into the lawn. Higher up are some strawberry plants I planted in the cracks in the rocks which have moved down by means of runners into the lawns where they root. Because I never fertilized, the lawn did not have to be mowed as often as a lawn conventionally grown in the USA would have to be more regularly maintained because of rich synthetic inputs into the system. This allowed the strawberries to root more easily through the shorter blades. Can you imagine all these types of plants I've mentioned being a weedy problem in need of a deadly solution ???

Image: Mine 2013

Still, it amazes me that where I come from in the southwest USA, they will go out of their way to rid the lawn of even a single beautiful flower if it disrupts the monoculture of those highly prized green blades of grass in their   lawnscape. But this mindset has been conditioned into the average person over there for decades. The lawns that I now experience over here in Europe are loaded with all manner of wild bees and other insects because of the huge tiny flower content within these lawns. It's literally alive both above and below the ground and nothing really has to be done but lightly mow it twice a month. The carbon footprint as it were is almost nothing with the exception of the small gas can I fill up once a year. The other area of maintenance that is totally unnecessary is lawn and soil aeration. You all know what I'm talking about and perhaps you've either hired someone to do this task with their large machines or you've rented your equipment and did  yourself. 

Tundra Landscapes

Colorado Happy Roots

Sure enough, if aeration isn't done, then water runs off is wasted, fertilizer doesn't penetrate and oxygenation doesn't occur in the root zone area. This is especially bad in the dry regions of the world where lawns have to be artificially maintained this way. We've all seen the wicked looking gas powered equipment and it's 3" or 4" inch long teeth which punch the holes into the lawns and literally pull out hundreds of tiny plugs. All of this is necessary when you follow the rules of an artificial synthetic inputs regimen recommended by your local nurseryman able and willing to sell you all the supplies needed to accomplish that perfect lawn. Oddly enough, over here in Sweden you never see this stuff. Why ??? Because you see this everywhere instead, look below.

Etymology Depart. Oregon State University

Missouri Botanical Garden

The scene above is what I see almost every morning on Swedish lawns when I take our Chihuahua for his walk 3 times a day. Earthworms accomplish the aeration, fertilization, water percolation improvement on a daily basis here and for free. All you have to do is know how to take care of their underground home. Actually to be honest, what I really see is two to three times the castings as the ones above in that picture from Oregon State University. And this is all done for free. In the smaller photo these castings are dried, dug from the earth so that you can get a visual on what exactly they are accomplishing. Notice the tubes which are created by their activity ? While it is true that this area is wetter than where I come from in the hotter drier southwest, you could still get these same results if the dark biological matter were allowed to buildup via the microbial influence and lack of synthetic inputs. This is also another one of those arguments against the GMO Grass seed which is totally unnecessary and is only engineered to allow a plethora of synthetic weed killers like Roundup to be applied on lawns without killing grasses. But Roundup has also be found to kill certain earthworm species and lower populations of others which do not totally die off. I'll post links below in references. But there are some good illustrations for what exactly the importance of having good lawn aeration accomplishes within your grass community root system. 

 Some Interesting Info-graphics on what the benefits of Aeration can accomplish

You can Google the above uses words/terms like "Soil Aeration" or more specifically "Lawn Aeration" and a plethora of beautiful info-graphics pops up under 'images'. Of course it is dealing with much of the advertised mechanical plug removal aeration needed when the conventional chemical approach to lawn care is practiced, but it also illustrates what goes on when billions of earthworms are present and doing their job under the ground. If you view the middle illustration, you find that these opened passages allow for more water and air infiltration and of course deeper penetration of those synthetic junk food nutrients into the soils. But the mechanized version only goes so far down. Remember, 3" or 4" at best ? The "Anecic" variety of Earthworm burrow down six inches or as far down as 8" to 10" down [some species several feet] which allows roots to follow, depending on the amount of organic carbon materials deeply built up within the soil structure under a healthy organically maintained lawn. At this point I have created an entirely separate post about the incredible diversity of earthworms and what they actually perform within healthy soils. This will speed up the reading with this post. Well, hopefully.

Earthworms & the mechanical functions they perform in the soil

Much the way the Harvard Yard Landscapers have created in their Compost tea maintenance strategy. Read about the imaginary controversy surrounding Harvard Yard's landscape supervisor and crew's decision to totally eliminate all synthetic chemicals from the 80+ acre landscape program and the criticism they received from the Washington State University Garden Professors who are committed to industrial science business interests.

Success of Harvard Yard's Compost Tea Program & unfair criticism by Professors committed to industrial science

image: Lawn Care Vancouver

image: Efficient Lawns

The idea behind thatching is to remove all that worthless dead material which impedes air and water movement. The photo above shows a massive amount of thatch that now has to be dealt with either in a separate compost pile away from the landscape or more than likely place in green barrels for the eco-waste disposal people to deal with on their next weekly visit. Again all of this is totally unnecessary if a natural organic approach is practice and the industrial synthetic regimen is dumped in favour of what professional landscapers like those of Harvard Yard have done. The thatch first of all never builds up as the grass grows much more slowly and normally than that continual forced growth triggered by chemical synthetic fertilizers. If you've never seen one of these machines, they mostly have stiff steel brushes which attack the grass and scour it for any dead loose materials. Again, this is not a piece of equipment people normally own, you must hire someone or rent it and do the work yourself. All unnecessary if you biomimic nature.

image: Lowes.com

Image: Turf Doctor

One of the things that disturbed me most about our company's lawn care was the waste in ammonium nitrate pellets which got all over the sidewalks and street gutters, even when you thought you were being careful. There is just no way to perfectly prevent this from scattering where ever when using one of those spreader machines. I realized just how much contribution to downstream and lake pollution was being done collectively by literally 1000s upon 1000s of property owners and/or their landscapers in conventional turf management when they were sloppy about spreading these pellets. You see this everywhere. I finally just just used the manual spreaders in the center of larger lawns and spread carefully by hand around the perimeter. The other thing I hated was having to constantly check daily all lawn sprinkler heads for damage, mineral deposit clogging or insect plugging. Sometimes even weed edger damage. But the need for ongoing water and the artificial way of providing nutrition always seemed to make the grass grow and grow. This called for more than the usual mowing and excess clippings to deal with. What a waste having to throw it all away because we had no real time and patience for creating a composting program. Part of the scary issue here in the west with compost piles is the heat within large amounts of grass clippings are high in nitrogen content and fires can be common. I use to see this a lot with neighbour's composting piles with grass clippings or horse manure piles left unattended. If I had it to do over again, I'd go the Harvard Yard Compost Tea method where micro-organisms are nurtured and encouraged. Where the grass stays a rich green and grows much slower and requires less watering. 

Harvard Yard Recycling Programme

Washington State University Ag Extension Compost Tea Webinar Revisited

Harvard Yard Landscaping Crew

The Webinar by the two WSU gals at Washington State University was very well done and quite neutral in the points they referenced. The Garden Professors from WSU were critical of the webinar long before it was ever shown to the public and were determined not to draw attention to it. The opposite happened. The Garden Professors claim to be a collection of garden/landscaping myth busting legends and while I do accept many things that have written about, sometimes they and a few of their wannabe myth-buster followers get carried away with their own celebrity status. Watch the webinar and follow carefully some of their recommendations. Same with the Harvard Yard recommendations on their website. Take notes of what and how you blended your version of the compost tea and keep in mind the extreme importance of some type of aeration techniques for creating a ecosystem for aerobic bacteria and not an anaerobic one. Take photographs, make more notations on water use, mowing schedule, etc. And try to attain a zero use policy of any type of synthetic inputs into your lawn system. Try and maintain your lawn as an actual wild ecosystem. 

Don't worry about the flowers that may appear in your lawn and if you do not have any, get some. Perhaps you remember years ago the garden product called Meadow in a Can that was sold many places ? Of course not just any flowers will do, you want those tiny or at least small miniature versions of them. Red Flax worked in my lawn over here. The key to any type of a healthy system though is not having a monoculture program. Diversity is the key above ground because various species of fungi and bacteria are host specific below the ground. In both cases of commercial multi-species cover crop farming and diversified landscaping using holistic methods results also in bringing with it the added healthy large populations of various earthworm species which provide different services and benefits. Remember also different geographic locations have specific requirements. What works in one area may not work in another. Please share your ideas with others.

Some Resources for seeding small flowers into your lawn if desired

 Getting started with an herbal lawn may be as simple as changing your definitions and attitudes.

SFGate - Home & Garden: "How to Plant a Roman Chamomile Lawn

Flaming Petal: Planting a Chamomile Lawn

http://www.motherearthliving.com/gardening/herbal-lawns.aspx

https://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/oreganolawn.htm

Update January 8, 2016 Bloomberg:

 On a bit of negative News in the lawn world, it's unfortunate that the Biotechnology and Agro-Chemical Industries are obsessed with pushing their wares into the lawncare markets. These synthetics are not favourable to earthworm populations and as Harvard Yard has proven, they are a total waste of money. However, count on the marketing spin to commence and anyone against their product will be labeled anti-science. This is a flat out lie as you can read from the links and experiences above where people have used scientific discovery to model their lawncare programmes by means of replicating Nature called Biomimicry. You should take note that Scotts has been pursuing this for a long time and their GMO Grass has escaped into the wild in Oregon outside their remote field trial sites, but as they say:

"Scotts filed a similar bentgrass petition in 2002 with the intention of selling it to professional golf courses. Soon after, the modified grass was found growing outside approved test plots in eastern Oregon, King said. Scotts, a Marysville, Ohio-based seller of lawn-care products, agreed in 2007 to pay a $500,000 fine to resolve allegations it violated USDA rules for field tests of its grass." 

"Glyphosate-tolerant creeping bentgrass continues to be found occasionally growing wild in Oregon, and when that happens the company provides herbicides to kill it, King said.

Bloomberg: "Monsanto & Scotts Seek Approval for Golf Grass Gone Wild" 

Future Updates for Flowers in Swedish Lawns here

Wild Lawn image by James A. Bacon

 I love this image above. So illustrative of how lawns are over here in Sweden. Here is a post by James A. Bacon who feels the same way I do about lawns:

Bacon's Rebellion: "The Grass Isn't Always Greener"

South side of my old place.