Symbiotic fungi are all the rage right now. Farmers want them in their fields, gardeners want them in veggie patches and flowerbeds. The excitement has given rise to a billion-dollar mycorrhizae market, but many products don’t deliver on their promises. Come visit the world’s biggest collection of these fungi to learn what makes them so great — and why you should think twice before buying them.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• News article: Soil health is big business, but KU researchers say many fungal products don't work as promised
• Scientific journal article: A.B. Frank and mycorrhizae
• The AM fungi collection at KU website

This episode of Up From Dust was written, reported and mixed by Celia Llopis-Jepsen, with editing by Mackenzie Martin and Stephen Koranda.

In 1978, a young scientist “brazenly trespassed” around a Chicago building in search of dead birds. He unwittingly began a 40-year journey that could help save countless warblers, thrushes and more. Most of America’s 10 riskiest cities for migrating birds lie in the middle of the country. We’ll find out why — and how every resident from Texas to the Canadian border can help reduce the death toll.

This episode of Up From Dust was written, reported and mixed by Celia Llopis-Jepsen, with editing by Mackenzie Martin and Stephen Koranda.

During times of drought, when the rains fail, man-made lakes come to the rescue of our cities and towns. Except the reservoirs we’ve come to depend on for drinking water are filling up with mud instead. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has an idea to tackle the problem, and they’ll try it for the first time ever — in Kansas.

Up From Dust is hosted by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos. This episode was written and reported by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and produced by Mackenzie Martin. Mix by Celia Llopis-Jepsen.

Have you ever wondered about the eco-story behind your daily brew? Join us as we spill the beans on the environmental impact of tea & coffee, from cultivation to consumption. (This episode comes to us from the podcast Living Planet.)

Ancient waters that lie deep beneath the dry High Plains helped to turn western Kansas into an agricultural powerhouse. But the Ogallala Aquifer’s wells have begun to run dry after decades of tapping it for our corn, wheat and cows. In the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains, we’ll learn how farmers are adjusting as the water disappears and hear how some are prodding state leaders to finally act.

Up From Dust is hosted by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos. This episode was reported by David Condos and written by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and produced by Mackenzie Martin. Mix by Celia Llopis-Jepsen.

After Europeans colonized America, their descendants plowed their way across the continent, seeking prosperity through farming. But breaking up the soil – that had built up over many thousands of years – made it wash away. So some farmers are retiring their tilling equipment. Amble through Kansas prairies and cornfields as we learn how treasuring the ground beneath our feet can lead to farms that better withstand climate change, use less fertilizer and suck carbon out of the atmosphere.

Up From Dust is hosted by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos. This episode was written and reported by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and produced by Mackenzie Martin. Mix by Celia Llopis-Jepsen.

It’s easy to advocate for saving pandas and elephants, but bugs are a harder sell. Look closer, though, and you’ll find tiny superheroes propping up entire ecosystems as pollinators, decomposers, predators and prey. We’ll wander the prairie with bison ranchers, in search of the dung beetles that work quiet miracles in huge piles of poop. And we’ll meet people overcoming their insect fears to help scientists catch and release bees, before they disappear.

Up From Dust is hosted and reported by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos. This episode was reported and written by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and produced by Mackenzie Martin with editing by Scott Canon. Mix by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and Byron Love.

A vast ocean of grass and wildflowers once covered one-third of North America. But that diverse prairie biome is collapsing, partly due to greenhouse gases and to our obsession with trees. Humans have unleashed an aggressive canopy that’s swallowing the Great Plains. For ranchers, saving the environment means being a tree killer — not a tree hugger.

Up From Dust is hosted and reported by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos. This episode was written by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and produced by Mackenzie Martin with editorial support from Scott Canon and Suzanne Hogan. Mix by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and Byron Love.

Humans opened a Pandora’s box by moving plants, animals and fungi around the planet where they didn’t live before. Some of those species become so successful in their new surroundings that they crowd out others. Come along on a hunt for rogue Bradford pears, meet the teens turning cityscapes into butterfly havens and learn how to turn invasive plants into delicious food.

Up From Dust is hosted by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos. This episode was reported and written by Celia Llopis-Jepsen with help from Blaise Mesa and produced by Mackenzie Martin with editorial support from Scott Canon and Suzanne Hogan. Mix by Celia Llopis-Jepsen, Mackenzie Martin and Byron Love.

Trees are swallowing prairies. Bees are starving for food. Farmland is washing away in the rain. Humans broke the environment — but we can heal it, too. Up From Dust is a new podcast about the price of trying to shape the world around our needs, as seen from America’s breadbasket: Kansas.

Hosts Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos wander across prairies, farm fields and suburbia to find the folks who are finding less damaging, more sustainable ways to fix our generational mistakes. Coming soon from the Kansas News Service, KCUR Studios, and the NPR Network.