Fungal communities and urbanization
Top: J David Mattox samples oak roots at konza Prairie.
Middle: Spencer Lickteig harvests leaves for isolation of foliar fungi in Manhattan City park
Bottom: One of Spencer’s plates for isolation of leaf fungi
Our next-generation sequencing analyses indicate that the fungi that live in the roots and leaves of oaks (Quercus macrocarpa) respond to urbanization. Both in the roots and leaves, the fungal communities in urban sites differ compositionally and have a lower richness and diversity than those in non-urban sites.
We are presently testing hypotheses what are the drivers that lead to the differences in composition and diversity between the urban and non-urban sites.
