{"id":821,"date":"2026-04-08T23:47:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T23:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/nrsa-lab\/?page_id=821"},"modified":"2026-04-10T00:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:54:07","slug":"above-below-ground-coupling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/nrsa-lab\/above-below-ground-coupling\/","title":{"rendered":"Above-Below Ground Coupling"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Above-Below Ground Coupling<\/h1>\n\n\n
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The diversity and composition of aboveground tree communities are not independent of what lives belowground. Mycorrhizal fungi \u2014 symbiotic partners that connect tree roots to the soil \u2014 play a central role in nutrient cycling, carbon storage, and forest dynamics. Yet the spatial patterns of mycorrhizal associations across landscapes, and their coupling with plant diversity, have been poorly understood at macroscales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our lab uses continental-scale forest inventory data combined with DNA sequencing of soil samples to map mycorrhizal communities and examine how they co-vary with tree communities across the contiguous United States. We have shown that the dominance of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) versus ectomycorrhizal (EM) tree associations is driven primarily by climate, and that anthropogenic influences \u2014 particularly nitrogen deposition and fire suppression \u2014 have shifted mycorrhizal dominance over the past three decades. We are currently building the first national-scale mycorrhizal diversity database from DNA sequencing of Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) soil samples, an effort that will enable new understanding of plant\u2013fungal relationships over time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Active Grants:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n