A preliminary checklist of fungi at the Boston Harbor Islands

Between December 2012 and May 2017, we conducted a fungal inventory at the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (BHI) in Massachusetts. We extensively sampled 4 sites (Grape Island, Peddocks Island, Thompson Island, and World's End peninsula) and occasionally visited 4 others for sampling (Calf Island, Great Brewster Island, Slate Island, and Webb Memorial State Park). We made over 900 collections, of which 313 have been identified. The survey yielded 172 species in 123 genera, 62 families, 24 orders, 11 classes, and 2 phyla. We report 4 species as new, but not formally described, in the genera Orbilia, Resupinatus, and Xylaria. Another collection in the genus Lactarius may be new to science, but further morphological and molecular work is needed to confirm this conclusion. Additionally, Orbilia aprilis is a new report for North America, Proliferodiscus earoleucus represents only the second report for the US, and Chrysosporium sulfureum, a common fungus of some cheeses, was discovered on woodlice (Crustacea: Malacostraca: Isopoda: Oniscidea). We discuss our findings in the light of DNA-based identifications using the ITS ribosomal DNA region, including the advantages and disadvantages of this approach, and stress the need for biodiversity studies in urbanized areas during all seasons

Biodiversity conservation: local and global consequences of the application of “rights of nature” by Ecuador

In 2008, Ecuador recognized the Constitutional Rights of Nature in a global first. This recognition implies a major shift in the human-nature relationship, from one between a subject with agency (humans) and an exploitable object (nature), to a more equilibrated relationship. However, the lack of a standard legal framework has left room for subjective interpretations and variable implementation. The recent widespread concessioning of pristine ecosystems to mining industries has set up an unprecedented conflict and test of these rights. Currently, a landmark case involving Los Cedros Protected Forest and mining companies has reached the Constitutional Court of Ecuador. If Ecuador’s highest Court rules in favor of Los Cedros and the Rights of Nature, it would set a legal precedent with enormous impact on biological conservation. Such a policy shift offers a novel conservation strategy, through citizen oversight and action. A ruling against Los Cedros and the Rights of Nature, while a major setback for biodiversity conservation, would be taken in stride by the active social movement supporting these goals, with the case likely moving into international courts. Meanwhile, extractive activities would continue and expand, with known consequences for biodiversity

Nearest Neighbor Permutation Test Results

This is Supplemental Fileset S1, from Appendix D of my dissertation (R. Vandegrift. 2016. <i>Ecological Roles of Fungal Endophytes.</i> University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.) <div><br></div><div>This fileset contains the results of permutational nearest neighbor analysis described in Chapter V. There are R data files, and contain lists of dataframes with the relevant information: rows are observed mean nearest neighbor distance (d bar sub o), expected mean nearest neighbor distance (d bar sub e), the standard deviation around d bar sub e, the percent of permutations where d bar was less than d bar sub o (p-value), the value of d bar for which 5% of permutations were larger, and the value of d bar for which 5% of permutations were smaller. Columns are distance classes. Results are presented for all available distance classes. </div

Code: Spatial ecology of the genus Xylaria in a tropical cloud forest

<p>This is a large set of R code, customized to our data, which was used to analyzed spatial clustering of fungi.</p

The herbaceous landlord: integrating the effects of symbiont consortia within a single host

Plants are typically infected by a consortium of internal fungal associates, including endophytes in their leaves, as well as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) in their roots. It is logical that these organisms will interact with each other and the abiotic environment in addition to their host, but there has been little work to date examining the interactions of multiple symbionts within single plant hosts, or how the relationships among symbionts and their host change across environmental conditions. We examined the grass Agrostis capillaris in the context of a climate manipulation experiment in prairies in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Each plant was tested for presence of foliar endophytes in the genus Epichloë, and we measured percent root length colonized (PRLC) by AMF and DSE. We hypothesized that the symbionts in our system would be in competition for host resources, that the outcome of that competition could be driven by the benefit to the host, and that the host plants would be able to allocate carbon to the symbionts in such a way as to maximize fitness benefit within a particular environmental context. We found a correlation between DSE and AMF PRLC across climatic conditions; we also found a fitness cost to increasing DSE colonization, which was negated by presence of Epichloë endophytes. These results suggest that selective pressure on the host is likely to favor host/symbiont relationships that structure the community of symbionts in the most beneficial way possible for the host, not necessarily favoring the individual symbiont that is most beneficial to the host in isolation. These results highlight the need for a more integrative, systems approach to the study of host/symbiont consortia

Mixed fitness effects of grass endophytes modulate impact of enemy release and rapid evolution in an invasive grass

Endophytic fungi in grasses are often considered to be mutualistic because they can increase host resistance to herbivory and drought. However, not all endophytes are beneficial to their hosts, but may instead be specialist enemies. Brachypodium sylvaticum is an invasive grass in the USA. In its European native range, it is nearly always infected by the host-specific endophyte Epichloe sylvatica. While this fungus decreases herbivory, it also decreases the growth rate and size of infected plants, making them less competitive. After showing that B. sylvaticum has lost its endophyte in the invaded range, we use greenhouse assays to deconfound the effects of endophyte infection and range origin to test assumption of the evolution of increased competitive abilities (EICA) hypothesis. Brachypodium in its invaded range appears to have lost tolerance mechanisms present in the native range, allowing Epichloe to greatly increase seedling mortality and reduce growth rates. Additionally, there is some evidence for increased competitive abilities in the form of increased seedling growth rates in the invasive range. Together, these results provide strong support of the EICA hypothesis

Data from: The herbaceous landlord: symbiont consortia lead to context-dependent interactions within a single host

<p>These are the data files from: Vandegrift, Roy, Pfeifer-Meister, Jonson, and Bridgham. 2015. The herbaceous landlord: symbiont consortia lead to context-dependent interactions within a single host. PeerJ.</p

Differing effects of four building materials on viable bacterial communities and VOCs

16 pagesIndoor environmental quality is a paramount concern among architects. Exposure to VOCs and microorganisms impacts occupant health, yet the role of materials on these exposures remains poorly understood. In this study, we placed four material types in individual microcosms to test whether material type influences bacterial community structure and VOC emission. We used culture-independent methods to characterize bacterial communities and TD-GC-MS to measure VOC emission. We found that viable bacterial communities had different patterns of abundance, diversity, and composition, in comparison with total (viable plus dead cells) bacterial communities. Examining viable bacteria only, Earth had the highest abundance and diversity, unique community composition, and overall negative VOC emission. Timber had the lowest bacterial abundance, composition similar to Gypsum and Concrete, and the highest VOC emission rate. Our research provides further evidence that architects’ decisions about building materials can influence chemical and microbial exposures indoors

Data from: Spatial ecology in the Xylariaceae: combining traditional collection and next-generation sequence-based microbial survey techniques.

These are the original Illumina MiSeq and other datafiles associated with the paper: Spatial ecology in the Xylariaceae: combining traditional collection and next-generation sequence-based microbial survey techniques