Characterizing the ectomycorrhizal fungal community of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) in Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National parks ...

• Main Author: Southam, Hanno
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The University of British Columbia 2021
• Subjects: glacier*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0398124; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0398124

Whitebark pine (WBP) (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) is an endangered, high-elevation tree species and an obligate ectomycorrhizal mutualist. The ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal community with which it associates is central to its recovery. Previous efforts to describe this community have been focused in a single region of the species range (Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem) and relied on above ground sporocarp (mushroom) surveys. This project built upon that work by using NextGeneration sequencing of the ITS2 region to describe the WBP ECM fungal community in Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National parks of Canada. Samples were taken from root tips and adjacent soil of mature trees, naturally regenerated seedlings and planted seedlings. The major ECM lineages previously recorded with WBP were confirmed at our project site: generalist ascomycetes (Cenococcum, Wilcoxina), Agaricales (Cortinarius, Inocybe, Tricholoma, Hygrophorus), Atheliales (Piloderma, Amphinema, Tylospora), Suilloids (Suillus, Rhizopogon), Russuales ...