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

森林健康和生产力与森林环境中的真菌直接相关。真菌是回收落叶、树枝、原木和其他有机物所必需的，将氮和磷等必要的营养物质归还给土壤，使它们重新为植物所用。菌根真菌扮演着第二个基本角色；它们与植物的根相联系，并在根之外创建一个网络，为植物提供植物以其他方式无法获得的营养和水分。真菌生活在土壤和有机质中。当火灾发生时，土壤表层的正常真菌会被高温摧毁。是什么取代了它们，使土壤再生，为植物提供养分，使森林得以恢复？一小群独特的耐火真菌在火灾后的头一两年取代了正常的真菌。在东部落叶林中，这些火灾反应真菌是什么以及它们是如何发挥作用的，在很大程度上是未知的。大烟山国家公园的毁灭性火灾提供了一个机会，可以收集和记录烧毁地区独特的火灾后真菌，并评估它们在森林恢复中的作用。这项研究将这些罕见的真菌纳入国家公园All Taxon生物多样性清单(ATBI)的生物多样性估计，有助于更深入地了解阿巴拉契亚南部地区的特殊生物多样性。此外，田纳西诺克斯维尔大学的几名学生将接受这一项目的培训，当地公民科学家将参与实地考察和真菌鉴定的各个方面。对火灾反应真菌的记录将涉及生物学家、学生和公民科学家的网络。大烟山国家公园火灾烧伤区内的五个地区被选定进行评估，范围从轻度烧伤(燃烧后带走的垃圾，但对树木的损害有限)到强烈烧伤(几乎完全摧毁树木和完全清除有机碎片)。烧伤模式是这样的，对于这些区域中的四个，有相邻的未燃烧区域可以作为未燃烧的对照。烧伤区和未烧毁的控制区将每两周巡视一次。还将组织另外三次收集活动，涉及专业生物学家、与该项目相关的本科生和公民科学家。所有对火灾反应的真菌果实结构将按日期、地理区域(纬度/经度)、栖息地(焚烧前的森林类型)、邻近地区的烧伤程度和真菌的形态进行收集和记录。子实体和其他真菌结构将被保存在草本植物中。来自几个分子标记的DNA序列将被生成。在可行的情况下将获得培养物。DNA序列将有助于确认火灾真菌的身份和系统发育位置。DNA序列也可以为基于土壤或底物DNA图谱的环境研究提供信息，这些研究是由其他研究人员进行的。

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.