LAIST.COM - An estimated 1.3 million Joshua trees burned as the 2020 Dome Fire swept through 43,000 acres of the Cima Dome in the Mojave Desert. Scientists feared the damage extended far beyond the trees, reaching into the underground networks of fungi that help sustain desert ecosystems.
Instead, fungi are thriving underground.
That finding — published in a peer-reviewed study in the journal Fire Ecology — is important because the fungi extend the reach of Joshua trees’ root systems, helping them survive harsh desert conditions. Without the fungi, the desert plants would struggle even more than they already are to recover from the fire.
“Even though things die, there are always plants and microbes that will take advantage of the fire and will really bloom after them,” said Sydney Glassman, a fungal ecologist at UC Riverside and the lead author of the study. “So it’s not all doom and gloom."