LTER Georgia Coastal Ecosystems - Fall 2001 fungal monitoring -- marshgrass ergosterol content and ascospore release rates at 10 GCE sampling sites

Leaves of dominant marsh plants were collected from permanent plots in 10 GCE
LTER sampling sites in order to assess the relative biomass and activity of
fungal decomposers. The quantity of ergosterol, a specific fungal
cell-membrane component, and the rate of ascomycete spore expulsion were
measured in pooled lots of leaves from the dominant marsh vegetation at each
site. Samples were collected from both creek bank and mid-marsh habitats. The
dry weight and organic content of the plant material was also measured. This
study is part of the GCE microbial decomposer monitoring program, and will be
repeated annually to assess long-term patterns of fungal activity in relation
to various environmental factors.

Overall bounding box describing the geographic region within the Georgia
Coastal Ecosystems LTER study domain represented in data set FNG-GCEM-0112