Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities of three Pinus species on the California North Coast

This master's thesis project will inventory the different species of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi associated with three pine species occurring in coastal Humboldt County: Bishop pine, shore pine, and Monterey pine. Additionally, disjunct Bishop pine in Mendocino County will be sampled for associated ECM fungi. If successful, the project will reveal influences of host species and geographic distance on the community of ECM fungi present by documenting and analyzing variation in ECM fungal community composition among the three pine species and between disconnected populations of Bishop pine at its northern range limit. From an ecological perspective, this project may identify keystone fungal symbionts that have not been previously inventoried, and elucidate the flexibility of the ECM fungi that participate in symbiotic mutualisms. The study will address the following questions: (1) Do the associated ECM fungal assemblages differ between the three Pinus species in Humboldt county? (2) Is the ECM fungal assemblage associated with Humboldt Bishop pine similar to those of heterospecific co-occurring pine species? (3) Does the Humboldt Bishop pine ECM fungal assemblage differ from that of the disjunct Mendocino Bishop pine? (4) In Humboldt, will native Bishop and shore pine have a more similar ECM fungal assemblage relative to introduced Monterey pine? This talk will discuss the findings of the study so far, and provide background on the importance of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in California forests

Speaker: Monika Richardson, Cal Poly Humboldt

Attend in person or watch online here