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 moreFungi Friday; Turbinellus floccosus, the wooly chanterelle
Turbinellus floccosus by Ron Pastorino.
This fungus was an awesome find last weekend in the Catskills! Although the wooly chanterelle is considered toxic here in America, it is widely consumed in Mexico. In this weeks edition of Fungi Friday, I postulate two different theories that help describe its geophysical duality.
Read moreFungi Friday-Darwin’s golfball fungus; Cyttaria darwinii
Cyttaria darwinii. Mature individual is the large pitted individual on top.
Darwin’s golf ball fungus is a unique species with an interesting parasitic ecology. When we look at the distribution of its closely related cousins, the theory of evolution as well as Earth’s long, magnificent ecological past just becomes strengthened. I hope learning about Cyttaria darwinii will be as captivating to you as it was to Charles Darwin when he found the species while surveying Tierra del Fuego nearly 200 years ago.
Read moreOverlooked and underappreciated fungal symbiotes; Trichoderma species
Orange filaments in a.) and b.) represent Trichoderma sp. within plant roots. Blue filaments represent fungal pathogens. When invaded by Trichoderma sp. the plant responds by creating cell-wall deposits (black squiggles) which limits Trichoderma and pathogen growth. The first plant in panel c.) represents a healthy, disease resistant plant with Trichoderma sp. present while the second individual represents a disease ridden, less fit plant without the fungal mutualist. Harman et al. 2004.
Like mycorrhizae, Trichoderma sp. do more than just providing their host with nutrients. They offer numerous fitness enhancing services that must not be overlooked. In today’s post I will briefly describe the ecological services provided by Trichoderma sp. and how we are using this group of fungi to enhance our own fitness.
Read moreWillow interactions explain plant distributions in Alpine ecosystems.
One of the main alpine willow species found in CO, Salix glauca.
These series of experiment that took two years to carry out paint a more descriptive picture of what we see in alpine ecosystems. Compared to aboveground interactions, underground interactions have a stronger influence on species distributions in alpine habitats. Once again, we see how strong a force competition is.
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