Determining the impact of forest mortality in semi-arid woodlands on local and regional carbon dynamics. root associated fungus metagenome

Pinyon (in this study, Pinus edulis) experiences mass mortality during extreme drought events, which are becoming more frequent as climate change progresses. In pinyon-juniper woodlands, a dominant ecosystem in the American southwest, this causes a shift towards the co-dominant juniper (Juniperus monosperma). Root associated fungal communities (RAF) play a critical role in host plant fitness, and also respond to changes in the neighboring vegetation. We look at the effects of P. edulis and J. monosperma on each other's RAF communities, and at the effect of dead P. edulis neighbors on J. monosperma RAF communities. Our field site is a pinyon-juniper woodland where drought-like mass pinyon mortality was simulated by girdling all mature pinyon trees in a 4ha area. We also look at J. monosperma RAF communities from a juniper savanna site, the ecosystem to which pinyon-juniper woodlands seem to transform under extreme drought.