Collaborative Research, LiT and MSB: The Changing Diversity and Evolution of Decomposer Fungi in Response to Soil Warming and Nitrogen Additions

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Fungi are primary decomposers in temperate forests and their activities are important in determining the ability of forest soils to supply nutrients for plant growth and carbon sequestration. Shifts in the abundance, diversity, and activity of fungi are likely to have significant consequences for ecosystem function. Environmental change can have severe impacts on biological diversity, but relatively little is known about how soil fungi are affected, especially as compared to other organism groups. This project examines how soil fungi are affected by climate warming and nitrogen deposition, two important environmental changes in the Northeastern U.S. The specific objectives are to: (1) investigate the effects of chronic soil warming and nitrogen additions on the biodiversity of decomposer fungi; (2) determine if the fungi that grow in warmed or nitrogen-enriched plots persist because they are able to tolerate many different environments or because they have adapted to grow in the new environments of the experimental plots; and (3) examine the relationship between fungal diversity and decomposition in response to warming and nitrogen additions.The proposed research will make a new and fundamental contribution to the understanding of the ecology of soil fungi by examining fungal evolution/adaptation in a global change context. It will also add a great deal to what is known about the biodiversity of decomposer fungi and will provide information on how changes in the fungal community drive decomposition dynamics under conditions of altered temperature and nitrogen availability. Fungi are also emerging as infectious diseases of humans and other organisms. Climate change is clearly playing a role in the appearance of these novel diseases, and this work with a more benign group of fungi will provide data on the general features of fungal evolution in a changed climate. This project also supports the collaboration between project personnel and the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) in the development and distribution of a game that educates children about fungi. Lichens and mushrooms are startlingly beautiful and obvious to even the casual observer. "Fungal Bingo" teaches very young children about the amazing colors and shapes of the fungi they see in their own parks and forests. The partnership with EOL will result in a web-based version of Fungal Bingo that can be assembled automatically from local species lists.