Effect of brush mastication on the below ground mycorrhizal community in a mixed hardwood chaparral
Project ID: J8W07060003
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Southern Oregon University
Fiscal Year: 2006
Initial Funding: $97,800
Total Funding: $97,800
Project Type: Research
Project Disciplines: Biological
National Park: Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
Principal Investigator: Southworth, Darlene
Agreement Technical Representative: Gibson, Jennifer
Abstract: This proposal addresses an important local knowledge gap associated with fuels treatment. Much of the vegetation at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area is a dense fire prone chaparral. Prescribed burns are limited by threat of wildfire and by narrow climatic conditions appropriate for burnings. Brush mastication has been used to reduce ladder fuels. However, it leaves a dense layer of chipped debris that, when burned, heats the soil more than ladder fuels. The upper layers of mineral soil contain roots of woody plants that form mycorrhizas, symbiotic associations of fungi and roots. The fungi absorb water and minerals and transport them to plants that in turn provide carbon to the fungi. The effect of debris from brush mastication on mycorrhizas is unknown. Changes may occur in the root mass, in the mycorrhizal community, and in the hypogeous fungi that produce fruiting bodies below ground. The objective of this project is to examine the effect of brush mastication and the burning of masticated debris on the below-ground mycorrhizal community associated with plant roots. Roots will be sampled in soil cores from established plots treated by brush mastication followed by burning. Mycorrhizas will be described by morphological descriptions and by DNA analyses. Hypogeous fungi will be sampled by scuffling set areas. The results will provide information to evaluate the effect of brush mastication on mycorrhizal fungi and to determine its potential benefit or harm to soil organisms.
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