US-India Cooperative Research: An Ecological and Taxonomic Study of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi

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9902175StephensonDescription: This award is for the US-India Collaborative Research: An Ecological and Taxonomic Study of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi. Collaborators Steven L. Stephenson, Fairmont State College, West Virginia and Indian botanist Rajendra Bhatt, H.N.B. Garhwal University will undertake comprehensive studies of the ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with the forests of eastern North America and northwestern India. These forests have a number of ecologically important ectomycorrhizal-forming tree genera in common. The objectives are: 1) to compare the species composition, diversity, taxonomy, fruiting phenology, and sporocarp productivity of selected groups of these fungi, and 2) to elucidate the biological and taxonomic relationships existing between populations of fungi that appear to represent the same taxonomic entity in these two regions. This project will produce new sets of data on the phenology, productivity, and diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi from northwestern India that will be compared with a similar body of data for the US study site. Scope: This research is a unique opportunity for mycologists from the US and India to collaborate on a major study of ectomycorrhizal fungi in two distant regions of the world having similar assemblages of fungi. Stephenson has done preliminary research at both test sites; Bhatt has studied the fungi of the Indian forest area for much of the past decade. The project contributes to fundamental knowledge on ectomycorrhizal fungi and provides a body of new data for launching further studies. A postdoc with expertise in the techniques of modern molecular biology will make important analytical contributions to this project and will serve as a link with one of the major centers for molecular-based studies of higher fungi. The data resulting will have important implications for timber management, watershed protection, and reforestation.