Date of Award

Spring 4-29-2020

Semester of Degree

May

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. in Environmental and Forest Biology

Department

Environmental and Forest Biology

Major Professor

Horton

Steering Committee Member

Ruth Yanai

Steering Committee Member

John Drake

Steering Committee Member

Jamie L. Lamit

Abstract

Forest productivity and recovery is limited by nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus. Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) form mutualistic symbioses with trees and aid roots in acquiring soil nutrients. The composition of EMF in forests may be sensitive to changes in soil nutrients in ways not fully understood. This research investigates EMF fruiting responses to nutrient manipulation in a project on Multiple Element Limitation in Northern Hardwood Ecosystems where N and P have been added annually in a factorial design since 2011. Sporocarp abundance, biomass, species richness, and fruiting community composition were compared between nutrient addition plots and control plots. While some ectomycorrhizal fungi are known to respond to N fertilization, this work is among the first to observe sporocarp community response to P fertilization, and to N and P fertilization together, which will be important to predicting how fungal communities will respond to changing soil nutrient conditions in a changing world.

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