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。 真菌对于回收落叶、树枝、原木和其他有机物至关重要，将氮和磷等必需养分返回土壤，以便植物再次利用它们。 菌根真菌发挥着第二个重要作用。它们与植物的根部相连，并在根部之外建立一个网络，为植物提供植物无法获得的营养和水分。 真菌生活在土壤和有机物中。 当火灾发生时，土壤表层的正常真菌会被热量破坏。 什么可以代替它们来再生土壤并为植物提供养分，从而使森林得以恢复？ 在火灾发生后的一两年内，一小群独特的耐火真菌会取代正常真菌。 在东部落叶林中，这些火灾响应真菌是什么以及它们如何发挥作用在很大程度上尚不清楚。 大烟山国家公园的毁灭性火灾提供了收集和记录烧毁地区独特的火灾后真菌的机会，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全分类生物多样性清单 (ATBI) 的生物多样性估计中，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，田纳西州诺克斯维尔大学的几名学生将在该项目中接受培训，当地的公民科学家将参与实地工作和真菌鉴定的各个方面。火灾响应真菌的记录将涉及生物学家、学生和公民科学家的网络。 大烟山国家公园火烧区内的五个地区已被选定进行评估，范围从轻度烧毁（烧毁的垃圾被清除，但树木损坏有限）到严重烧毁（树木几乎完全被毁，有机碎片被完全清除）。 燃烧模式使得对于其中四个区域，存在可以充当未燃烧控制的相邻未燃烧区域。 每两周检查一次烧伤区域和未烧伤控制区域。 将组织另外三场收集活动，涉及专业生物学家、与该项目相关的本科生和公民科学家。所有火灾响应真菌子实体结构都将按日期、地理区域（纬度/经度）、栖息地（燃烧前的森林类型）、附近区域的燃烧程度以及真菌的形态进行收集和记录。 子实体和其他真菌结构将保存在植物标本室中。 将生成来自多个分子标记的 DNA 序列。 在可行的情况下将获得培养物。 DNA 序列将有助于确认火真菌的身份和系统发育位置。 DNA 序列还可以为其他研究人员基于土壤或基质 DNA 谱进行的环境研究提供信息。

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.