GK12 Montana State University

My research is focused on the restoration of whitebark pine trees by examining the ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with them.  Whitebark pine is a highly threatened species that is critically important to the subalpine ecosystem in which it occurs. Whitebark pine populations have been greatly reduced due to a number of factors and these reductions have sparked active restoration efforts in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and throughout whitebark pine’s habitat. My work focuses on the impact of restoration practices on ectomycorrhizal fungi, which are mutualists with the tree (neither the fungi nor the trees can exist in nature without each other). The goals of my work are to 1) ascertain that whitebark pine seedlings are adequately mycorrhizal after treatments to ensure long-term survival 2) determine how the ectomycorrhizal fungal community is changed by these treatments, 3) determine which ectomycorrhizal species are important for the establishment of whitebark pine seedlings after restoration treatments, and 4) examine ectomycorrhizal fungi for potential inoculum for seedlings to increase survival in the field.