Diversity of soil fungi and microbes

Just one teaspoon of natural soil can contain billions of microorganisms. Yearly changes like snow fall, leaf litter inputs, and growth of spring ephemerals, to name a few, can impact soil fungal diversity and function. We are investigating factors that influence soil diversity and function with more than a decade of data collected in the forests at the Holden Arboretum. 

Ecological integrity of forests

The impacts of threats to our forests like invasive species, deer herbivory, and agricultural land use history are typically studied above ground. But how do these threats affect soil fungi and bacteria — and can restoring belowground communities help reestablish plant communities that have also been affected?

Soil ecology of urban environments

Urbanization, development, and nanoparticle pollution affect belowground communities, but the extent of these changes, and how they in turn influence plant growth and health in these places, is not well understood. With collaborators at Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University, we are studying these relationships and their impact on the success of urban forestry, agriculture, and ecological restoration.

Acid rain and forest health

Acid rain falling on a forest alters the chemistry of the soils, not only acidifying but also decreasing the availability of essential nutrients like phosphorus and calcium. We study how these changes impact forest health, how soil remediation can reverse the damage, and how belowground communities help mitigate these processes.

Forest pathogens and tree health

Forest pathogens are usually microscopic and include fungi, bacteria, viruses, and invertebrates. They not only associate with the tree or plant they infect, but also with the other microscopic organisms that live on leaves, roots, or in the soil — the forest microbiome. Understanding these interactions can help with treatment of the disease the pathogens cause. We are currently studying these relationships in the nematode (Litylenchus crenatae subsp. mccannii) associated with beech leaf disease and in the hemlock wooly adelgid (Adelges tsugae).