Research Synopsis
Fungal ecology and evolution is our primary interest, but most of our current and recent work has focused on the slightly narrower realm of mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi form symbiotic associations with plant roots, and this interaction represents one of the most widespread and important mutualisms in terrestrial ecosystems.

Our prior work on mycorrhizal fungi has focused on:
  1. The development of molecular tools for the identification of fungi from environmental samples
  2. The characterization of fungal community structure
  3. The effect of plant host and disturbance on fungal community structure
  4. The autecology and population structure of key fungal species and
  5. The ecology and evolution of non-photosynthetic, epiparasitic plants and their fungal hosts
All of this work has been facilitated by using molecular methods, such as nucleotide sequencing of environmental samples, as a means of identifying the participants involved in these interactions.
Current Projects
This part of the website tends to go out of date most quickly and stay that way for years! So the best way to get a sense for what is going on now is to click on the names of the current students and postdocs and read their statements. The next best way is to click on the current publications. We keep these fairly up to date, but of course they are likely to be a few years behind what we are doing now because of the lag between experiment, data collection, analysis, and publication.

With that caveat in mind the current projects in the lab (as of March 2006) include:
  1. An investigation of the spatial and temporal structure of Rhizopogon spore banks (Tom Bruns)
  2. Investigation of the structure of competitive interactions among key ectomycorrhizal species (Peter Kennedy)
  3. Systematics of Lepiota and related genera (Else Vellinga)
  4. The structure and function of arbuscular mycorrhizal communities in relation to serpentine soil (Shannon Peters) and
  5. Molecular genetics of Rhizopogon salebrosus in the context of epiparasitism by Pterospora andromedea (Val Wong).

In addition Kabir Peay, from the Garbelotto lab, is working on island biogeography of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with pine islands at Point Reyes and Tasha Hausmann, from the Dawson lab, is working on arbuscular mycorrhizal communities dynamics and function in manipulated grassland communities. Nick Rosenstock is developing a project on ectomycorrhizal community structure and function in cation depleted settings and Nicole Hynson is developing a project on epiparasitism of Pyrola aphylla and Pyrola picta.

The lab is also involved with the Point Reyes "Mycoblitz". This is an effort to catalogue and voucher the macrofungi at Point Reyes National Seashore. This is a collaborative project with Mycological Society of San Francisco, the Bay Area Mycological Society, the Sonoma Mycological Association, and Mycologists from San Francisco State, UC Davis, Humboldt State and the University of Wyoming.
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