How Are AM Mycorrhizal and EM Mycorrhizal Tree Species Dispersed in Appalachian Forests?

Ethan R. Cade*, Lydia R. Nicolai*, Megan A. Ponczek, and Brenden E. McNeil
Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Presentation No.: 25

Assigned Category (Presentation Format): Agricultural & Environmental Sciences (Poster Presentations)

Student’s Major: Environmental Geoscience

Accelerating climate change is affecting the growth of trees, and we know Appalachian tree species are responding differently to the increasingly wetter and warmer conditions with more prolonged periods of drought. But, to better predict how each tree species is responding to climate change, we need to identify the degree to which each species uses mycorrhizal fungi, or symbiotic fungi that grow on, around, and between the roots of trees, to acquire soil resources such as nutrients and water. Therefore, we tested whether the more intertwined mycorrhizae of trees with ectomycorrhizal (EM) associations (e.g. oaks) cause them to be more clustered within a forest than trees with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) associations (e.g. maples). To test this hypothesis, we mapped and analysed the distribution of over 10,000 trees in the Summit Bechtel Reserve Smithsonian ForestGEO megaplot in Southern West Virginia. By identifying the degree to which EM and AM trees are clustered within this dataset, we highlight which tree species may be better adapted to work together, and enhance their resiliency in the new Appalachian climate.

Funding: Appalachian Stewardship Foundation

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's SURE program (Rita Rio & Michelle Richards-Babb)