Ectomycorrhizal fungi and ecological memory
Top: Kale Lothamer samples oak roots in Manhattan City Park.
Middle: J David Mattox collects a soil core in Manhattan City park
Bottom: Kale Lothamer and J David Mattox fill the soil core holes
Our next-generation sequencing analyses indicate that the fungi that live in the oak (Quercus macrocarpa) roots respond to urbanization. The fungal communities in urban sites differ compositionally and have a lower richness and diversity than those in non-urban sites.
Our research program is expanding to testing the effects of management choices on these communities. Specifically, this “ecological memory ” project asks what is the impact of the choice of a tree species selected for an ornamental.
