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，它们将氮和磷等必需营养物质返回土壤，使植物再次获得它们。 菌根真菌发挥第二个重要作用;它们与植物的根相关联，并在根之外创建一个网络，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，土壤顶层的正常真菌被高温破坏。 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？ 一小群独特的防火真菌在火灾后的头一两年内取代了正常的真菌。 在东部的落叶林中，这些火灾反应真菌是什么以及它们如何发挥作用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，收集和记录火灾后的独特真菌，并评估它们在森林恢复中的作用。 这项研究将有助于更深入地了解特殊的阿巴拉契亚南部地区的生物多样性，包括这些罕见的真菌在生物多样性估计的所有分类生物多样性清单（ATBI）在国家公园。此外，来自田纳西大学诺克斯维尔的几名学生将接受该项目的培训，当地公民科学家将参与实地工作和真菌鉴定的各个方面。记录火灾反应真菌将涉及生物学家，学生和公民科学家的网络。 在大烟山国家公园的火灾燃烧区域内的五个区域已被选定进行评价，从轻度燃烧（燃烧去除垃圾，但树木的损害是有限的），以激烈（几乎完全摧毁树木和完整的有机碎片清除）。 燃烧模式是这样的，对于这些区域中的四个，存在可以充当未燃烧对照的相邻未燃烧区域。 每两周将对燃烧区和未燃烧的控制区进行一次视察。 另外三个收集活动涉及专业生物学家，与该项目有关的本科生，和公民科学家将组织。将收集所有火灾反应真菌子实体结构，并按日期、地理区域（纬度/经度）、栖息地（燃烧前的森林类型）、紧邻区域的燃烧程度和真菌形态记录。 子实体和其他真菌结构将保存在植物标本室。 将生成来自若干分子标记的DNA序列。 如可行，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序列也可以为其他研究人员根据土壤或基质DNA图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.