Mycorrhizal inoculation means introducing mycorrhizal fungi into soil or onto plant roots in order to establish symbotic relationships between plants and mycorrhizal fungi.

In a global meta-analysis of 122 peer-reviewed publications and 3,534 observations, mycorrhizal inoculation under drought increased plant biomass by 221%, N uptake by 24%, and P uptake by 136%.

SPUN is studying mycorrhizal inoculation in the form of native inoculation which means using inoculants from similar ecosystems.

Native inoculation involves taking soil from what we consider healthy or states where ecosystems are functioning to a place where the soil's degraded or the whole ecosystem is degraded, so that in effect we're restoring the soil biome, including fungi.

In order to identify the correct partners to the specific plant species you want to establish, it's important to consider what mycorrhizal fungi are prevalent, as they associate with so many different plant species. And if you have the incorrect mycorrhizal community, you're probably setting yourself up for failure.

There are different types of mycorrhizal inoculation. Examples are:  

Whole-soil transfer to seedlings (pre-inoculation before transplanting)

Amplified native community inoculum (community-level propagation without species identification)

Defined-strain cultured inoculum (named native fungal species or consortia)

Commercial inoculum products