Episode 7: Returning from the (mostly) dead with Dr. Matt Bowker

That crunchy black moss ball probably isn't dead...at least maybe not if you are in the desert. Just give it a splash with your water bottle and watch this cool little plant resurrect right before your very eyes! Join Dr. Matt Bowker and I as we discuss the super powers of the resurrection moss. Syntricia contains about 79 species and occur all of the world in drylands in a large variety of habitats, ranging from high-elevation mountain meadows to a major component of desert biological soil crusts. Learn more about all things resurrection moss, Syntricia, at https://3dmoss.berkeley.edu/

Learn more about Dr. Matt Bower at his blog. Here's a bit of his bio from that blog site:

"I am a soil ecologist largely focused on ecosystem and community ecology of sub-humid and dryer ecosystems (inclusive of forests, woodlands, grasslands, steppes and deserts). My research topics vary from empirical work focused on the advancement of theory in the areas of biodiversity effects on ecosystem function, and species interactions, to applied work focused on modeling the distribution of biological crusts, restoration of biological crusts, understanding erosion processes, and putting soil organisms to work in assisted migration of plants. I am a qualified plant ecologist and mycorrhizal ecologist, but I am best known for my work on biological crusts having authored about 30 papers on this topic, including several specifically on restoration. I maintain an international network of collaborators in Spain, Australia, and the United Kingdom and I am a participant in a truly global scientific network studying global drylands."