Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Open Access Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Applied Ecology (MS)
Administrative Home Department
College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
Advisor 1
Molly A. Cavaleri
Committee Member 1
Stephen Techtmann
Committee Member 2
Erik Lilleskov
Committee Member 3
Carsten Külheim
Abstract
Climate induced changes in tropical forests fungal communities could impact diversity and abundance, forest health, and carbon release/sequestration. Under warmer soil temperatures and over time, we hypothesized that arbuscular mycorrhizal, pathogen, saprotroph diversity and abundance would increase, that ectomycorrhizal and overall fungal diversity and abundance would decrease, and that root respiration would be unaffected. Experimental warming (+2-3 ℃) was conducted on root ingrowth cores at the Tropical Responses to Altered Climate Experiment (TRACE) in Puerto Rico. ITS2 metabarcoding was used to analyze fungal diversity and abundance in control or warmed root/soil samples. We found that warming decreased arbuscular mycorrhizal diversity, R25 decreased over time, but not due to warming, and Q10 was stable. This study indicates potential negative impacts to tropical arbuscular mycorrhizae mediated carbon sequestration, and an absence of root respiratory acclimation response to experimental warming.
Recommended Citation
Sankofa, Malik A., "THE EFFECTS OF EXPERIMENTAL WARMING ON ROOT RESPIRATION AND THE FUNGAL COMMUNITY OF TROPICAL FOREST SOIL", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2024.