Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of the Rhizopogon Spore Bank

外生菌根（EM）孢子库是植物-真菌群落生态学的一个基本组成部分，但研究较少。EM孢子库可以为严重干扰后的树木补充提供所需的接种物，并可能促进树木入侵到邻近的非森林地区。在北美西部的许多松树生态系统中，Rampogon物种是孢子库中最丰富的组成部分，在某些森林边界的环境中，它们似乎几乎是整个孢子库。本建议的重点是了解在循环火灾和松树再生的背景下，白皮松孢子库的时空动态。提出了这些相互作用的概念模型，并对与模型相关的5个假设进行了检验，这些假设主要集中在不同物种间的孢子寿命和孢子扩散的差异，以及在未成熟林和火后林中孢子扩散方式和频率的差异上，测量的参数包括：i）森林边缘地带孢子阴影的空间格局，ii）目前进入这些地带的传播速率和模式，iii）三种关键的Roppogon物种的孢子寿命和iv）复杂的天然孢子库的寿命。分子生态学、大规模空间取样和种子库生态学。这项工作解决了群落生态学的一个关键但基本上尚未研究的组成部分（即，EM孢子银行），并提供了一个类似的系统，在其中测试的想法开发的植物seedbanks.The更广泛的影响，这项工作是其直接关系到森林regeneration和扩张;的能力，以预测的EM孢子银行的空间和时间范围将提供森林管理人员与合理的方式来评估EM接种在高度干扰系统的可能性。

Ectomycorrhizal (EM )spore banks are a fundamental,but poorly studiedcomponent,of plant-fungal community ecology.EM spore banks can providethe inoculum necessary for tree recruitment following severe disturbance andmay facilitate tree invasion into bordering non-forested areas.Rhizopogon speciesare the most abundant component of spore banks in many western NorthAmerican pinaceous ecosystems,and in some forest-border settings they appearto be virtually the entire spore bank.This proposal is focused on understandingthe spatial and temporal dynamics of Rhizopogon spore banks in the context ofcyclic fire and pine regeneration.A conceptual model for these interactions isproposed,and five specific hypotheses related to the model are tested.Thesehypotheses focus on differences in spore longevity and spore dispersal amongRhizopogon species,and on differences in mode and frequency of dispersal withinmature-forests and post-fire forests.Measured parameters include:i)spatialpattern of the spore shadow in forest border zones,ii)current dispersal rates andmodes into these zones,iii)spore longevity of three key Rhizopogon species andiv)longevity of complex native spore banks.Hypotheses will be tested bycombining the techniques of bioassays,molecular ecology,large-scale spatialsampling,and seed bank ecology.The work addresses a crucial,but essentiallyunstudied,component of community ecology (i.e.,EM spore banks),andprovides an analogous system in which to test ideas developed for plant seedbanks.The broader impacts of this work are its direct relationship to forestregeneration and expansion;the ability to predict the spatial and temporal extentof the EM spore banks will provide forest managers with a rational way to assessthe likelihood of EM inoculum in highly disturbed systems.