Response of the fungal community to drought and disturbance in dryland ecosystems

Global climate change is projected to increase the spread of soil-borne infectious diseases due to persistent stressful environmental conditions, such as drought and soil disturbances. Because pathogenic microbes are good at tolerating stress, they may thrive under environmental stressful conditions compared to other non-pathogenic microbes. The overarching goal of this project is to determine if dried and disturbed soils represent a threat to public health by examining if global climate change favors the growth and pathogenicity of pathogenic soil fungi.