In today's lecture, we are going to look at the species interactions of America's northeast deciduous forest. As I hike through Zoar Valley, I explain different organisms I encounter and discuss the species interactions they engage in. From mutualism, parasitism, and predation to commensalism, and amensalism we'll look at these patterns and hopefully be able to better understand forest ecology from the perspective of the forest floor.
Read moreLaboulbenia species; fungi analogous to athlete’s foot
Laboulbenia species growing from the hard outer wing surface known as the elytra.
So often, I find fungi to write about that have a large ecological impact. Organisms that interact with ecosystems in stunningly detrimental ways or overwhelmingly positive ways entice readers to visit this website, and are generally easy to write about. However, it would be a disservice to you if I didn’t mention the commensals; the species that skate by without having truly negative or positive impacts. I just recently learned of a group of Ascomycete fungi called the laboulbeniomycetes that do just that.
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