Mammal Mediated Dispersal of Mycorrhizal Fungi: Using Microscopy as a Method for Quantifying Diet and Fungal Richness
2024-04-30
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Mammal Mediated Dispersal of Mycorrhizal Fungi: Using Microscopy as a Method for Quantifying Diet and Fungal Richness
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2024-04-30
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Small mammals help initiate mycorrhizal fungal networks by consuming fungi and dispersing spores through their scat. Quantifying small mammal diets can help define the role these species play in mediating the colonization of mycorrhizal fungal networks that play important roles in ecosystem health such as soil aggregation, carbon sequestration, and tree establishment. In this study, fecal material was collected from the gastrointestinal tracts of small mammal specimens to be analyzed for diet quantification. Preliminary results found red-backed voles to have the greatest fungal abundance on average, with fungi making up 83% of their diet. Short-tailed shrew diets were composed primarily of insects, while White-footed mice and Deer-mice diets were composed primarily of plants and insects.
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The author is an Environmental Science major in the Swenson College of Science and Engineering. Her project advisor is Dr. Ron Moen, Assistant Professor in the UMD Biology Department. This project is a sub-set of a larger diet study proposed by Dr. Michael Joyce at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Natural Resources Research Institute.
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University of Minnesota's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program; U. S. Forest Service
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Weiss, Teagan; Joyce, Michael; Stephens, Ryan; Moen, Ron. (2024). Mammal Mediated Dispersal of Mycorrhizal Fungi: Using Microscopy as a Method for Quantifying Diet and Fungal Richness. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/262951.
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