Collaborative Research: A Survey of post-fire Ascomycete and Basidiomycete Fungi in an Eastern Deciduous Forest

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Forest health and productivity are directly linked to fungi in the forest environment. Fungi are necessary to recycle fallen leaves, twigs, logs and other organic matter, returning essential nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to the soil so they are again available to plants. Mycorrhizal fungi play a second essential role; they associate with plant roots and create a network beyond the roots which provides plants with nutrients and water the plants could not otherwise obtain. Fungi live in the soil and in organic matter. When fire occurs, the normal fungi in the top layer of soil are destroyed by heat. What takes their place to regenerate the soil and provide nutrients to plants so the forest may recover? A small group of unique fire-resistant fungi replace normal fungi for the first year or two following a fire. In eastern deciduous forests, what these fire-response fungi are and how they function are largely unknown. The devastating fires in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers an opportunity to collect and document the unique post-fire fungi in burned areas and to evaluate their role in rehabilitation of the forest. This study will contribute to a deeper understanding of the exceptional biodiversity of the southern Appalachian region by including these rarely seen fungi in biodiversity estimates for the All Taxon Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) in the National Park. Additionally, several students from the University of Tennessee Knoxville will be trained in this project and local citizen scientists will be involved in various aspects of fieldwork and identification of fungi. Documentation of fire-response fungi will involve a network of biologists, students and citizen scientists. Five regions within the fire-burn area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have been selected for evaluation ranging from light burn (litter removed by the burn but tree damage is limited) to intense (near total destruction of trees and complete organic debris removal). The burn patterns are such that for four of these areas, there are adjacent unburned areas that can act as unburned controls. The burn areas and unburned control areas will be visited every two weeks. Three additional collection events involving professional biologists, undergraduates associated with the project, and citizen scientists will be organized. All fire-response fungal fruiting structures will be collected and documented by date, geographical area (latitude/longitude), habitat (the forest type before the burn), degree of burn in the immediate area, and morphology of the fungi. Fruitbodies and other fungal structures will be preserved in herbaria. DNA sequences from several molecular markers will be generated. Cultures will be obtained where feasible. DNA sequences will help confirm identity and phylogenetic placement of fire-fungi. DNA sequences may also inform environmental studies based on soil or substrate DNA profiles carried out by other researchers.