FungiEco Editorial Team

Managing Property Runoff with Fungi and Vegetation

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Runoff is a normal part of living on a small rural property. Rain falling on roofs, tracks, driveways, yards, paddocks and sloping ground will look for the lowest point. Problems arise when water is concentrated, moving too quickly, carrying soil, or collecting beside buildings, roads and neighbouring boundaries. A useful property-management approach is to slow, … Read more

Building a Backyard Mycofilter for Garden Runoff

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A backyard mycofilter is a small, planted or mulch-filled area designed to slow ordinary garden runoff and help remove some suspended material before the water moves farther through the landscape. It uses fungal-colonised organic material as one part of a wider biological filtration system. Woodchips, straw, soil, roots, stems and vegetation all contribute by slowing … Read more

Designing Scalable Fungal Filter Beds for Farms

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Fungal filter beds are a form of nature-based treatment that uses fungi, together with a suitable growing material and supporting microorganisms, to help reduce or transform some pollutants in farm-related water or organic waste streams. They are sometimes considered within mycoremediation—the use of fungi in environmental treatment—but they are not a universal filter or a … Read more

Setting Up a Small Mushroom Growing Shed

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For a lifestyle block owner, a small shed or outbuilding can provide a useful middle ground between growing mushrooms outdoors and investing in a purpose-built commercial facility. With some planning, an existing space may be adapted into a manageable fruiting area for mushroom blocks, bags or containers. The aim is not to make the shed … Read more

Creating a Fungi-Friendly Rain Garden

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A rain garden is a planted landscape feature that receives runoff, slows its movement, and holds water temporarily while it soaks into the ground or moves safely toward an overflow route. It is not a pond, nor does it need to remain wet. With suitable soil, plants, mulch, and organic matter working together, a rain … Read more

Using Fungi in Farm Waste and Residue Management

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Fungi can become a useful part of a farm’s system for handling organic residues, especially materials that are slow to break down through ordinary composting. Straw, stalks, husks, woody prunings, forestry residues and other clean plant-based materials contain carbon compounds that fungi are well adapted to decompose. With suitable preparation and management, fungal activity can … Read more

Scaling Mycoremediation From Laboratory Research to Field Deployment

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Laboratory research is where many mycoremediation ideas begin. In a flask, column, soil jar or small reactor, researchers can determine whether a fungal strain tolerates a contaminant, transforms it, or captures it on living or dead biomass. These studies are essential because they reveal mechanisms, identify promising organisms and generate the kinetic and toxicity data … Read more

Fungi in Urban Stormwater Management

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When rain falls on a forest or open soil, much of it can infiltrate, evaporate or move slowly through vegetation. In a city, roofs, roads, driveways, car parks and other impervious surfaces interrupt those pathways. Water runs off more quickly and in greater volume, often reaching drains, streams and coastal waters before soil, plants or … Read more