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TODAY’S THREADS

CASE STUDIES: Animal species dependent upon forests for

some phase of their survival, not generalist species that can live

anywhere, are keystone species that are important in the recovery

rate of forest landscapes impacted by disturbances

TODAY

Mycorrhizas – allow forests to grow in nutrient

poor and toxic environments, symbionts that excess

fertilizer kills, humans enjoy eating their fruiting bodies

(mushrooms) but also can be killed from eating them

Salmon – keystone species that is also a cultural

symbol, fertilizes forests with ocean nutrients

Coqui – highly adapted to disturbances, increase the resilience of tropical forests to

disturbances, loved in Puerto Rico and hated in Hawaii

PAST

Cultural Icons

Good Eating, Sometimes Poisons

TODAY ADD

Ecosystem Services

Balance Low Nutrient Cycling Rates

2

SUMMARY COMMENTS ON:Mycorrhizal [or fungus root] Symbioses

Essential for trees growing in nutrient poor or

toxic soils

Reproductive structures [mushrooms] are good,

nutritious food for human

Mushrooms primary food source for some

animals (red backed vole)

Humans eat mushrooms & have euphoric

feelings (hallucinate, hear things); Mushrooms

will poison & kill humans

Eliminated with nutrient enrichment

You don’t see mycorrhizas but do see their

reproductive structures, i.e., mushrooms

http://www.mycorrhiza.eu/uploads/images/mycorrhiza%20npk.jpg

SUN +

Carbon

dioxide =

sugars

Mycorrhizas and TREES:

MOSTLY Obligate relationship – need each other

to survive

Symbiotic relationship – fair trade for resources

that’s easier for one partner to acquire & trade

[NOTE: trees can’t make the food – sugars –

without nutrients]

FUNGI

Scavenge Nutrients & gives

to the TREE

TREE SUGARS or FOOD

goes to fungus on roots

3

Belowground

mushrooms

BIODIVERSITY

SPECTACULAR:

Between 60,000 and

1.2 million individual

mycorrhizas were

found in one square

meter of foresthttp://www.nifg.org.uk/ecto.htm

1 tree may have up to 25

different species of

mycorrhizas!!

90% of plants have

mycorrhizas!! It is unusual

for plants to not have these

associations

4

QUESTION: Why do trees

need to form a relationship

with fungi??

- These symbiotic relationships

are OLDER than 1 million years

http://green.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/rainforests-tropical/rhinohornbilldipterocarp.html

LETS GO BACK TO THE

Tropics –

We know it is tough for

people to live here but is it

tough for trees??

5

Tabonuco root mat (> 40 cm

deep) on the surface of

forest floor

In wet

tropics

What

happens to

nutrients

that move

into the

soil past

the root

zone??

WHAT ABOUT Temperate

Coniferous Forests??

- Do big old growth Douglas-

fir need MYCORRHIZAS or

can they grow without any

microbial help??

6

Note highest Carbon

Sequestration potential and

largest trees found in the

world

ANSWER: Possible because

of the symbiotic microbial

associations, i.e.,

mycorrhizas, who

compensate for the low

nutrient content of the soils

Mycorrhizas are superb

‘SCAVENGERS’ of the World

Young SOILS

Temperate Zones

Old SOILS

Tropical Zones

Mycorrhizas found:

• All global soils

in hot tropics,

to temperate

and cold boreal

zones

• Most soils have

nutrient

deficiencies

7

Iceland -

Non-native

Karelian

Larch with

mycorrhizas

Chantrelles

Some sites

so degraded

that nothing

else will

grow

i.e., mine

spoil sites

being

replanted

need

mycorrhizas

on roots or

no plants will

grow

The mycelium or fungal network of some

forest fungi can extend enormous

distances:

Single individual of Armillaria bulbosa

permeated more than 30 acres of

forest soil in northern Michigan [may be

one of the world's largest living

organisms]

Washington, subterranean mycelial

network of Armillaria with above-ground

mushrooms covering more than a

thousand acres of forest soil http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0504.htm

Armillaria

mellea or

Honey

Mushroomhttp://waynesword.palomar.edu/plfeb98b.htm#

armila

NOTE: 1 football field, including the end

zones, covers ~1.32 acres (0.53 ha)

8

http://travel.mongabay.com/malaysia/images/

malaysia1016.html

Plants hungry for nutrients:

1) Partner with mycorrhizas and

pay for it with carbon OR

2) Steal from other plants

9

http://travel.mongabay.com/malaysia/images/

malaysia1016.html

Steal from other plants

1) Grow roots up trunk of trees

and get nutrients from

rainwater flowing down trunks

OR

Root grafting between different

species of plants and stealing

carbohydrates, nutrients from

other plants

2) Graft to another plant and take

other plants carbon and nutrients

10

Sign forbidding

firewood gathering,

to prevent spread of

oak wilt

http://www.invasive.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5030084

expanding

oak wilt

pocket

http://www.invasive.org/browse/detai

l.cfm?imgnum=5039095

NEGATIVE SIDE

OF ROOT GRAFTS:

SPREAD DISEASE

BETWEEN TREES

through Root

grafts

Q: Quess how forest/agricultural practices

eliminate mycorrhizal fungi on plant roots?

Answer: fertilize [increase nutrient levels] to make trees/crops grow faster

WHY: the tree no longer maintains fungi on its roots because tree PAYS the

fungus with CARBON to get nutrients

NOTE: IF ONE PARTNER GETS THE RESOURCE FOR

FREE, THERE IS NO REASON TO HAVE FAIR TRADE

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Why mycorrhizas are important to society:

• Plants without mycorrhizas not survive in highly weathered (low nutrients, high toxic chemicals) or low weathered soils (low nutrients)

FACT: High plant diversity & more plants grow in more different environments with mycorrhizas on roots

• Mycorrhizas help plants adapt to disturbances & climate change

FACT: Reason why find trees old as 1,000 years

Outlawed collecting mushrooms in Alps in

Europe because collected to many fruiting

bodies and lost mycorrhizal relationships

Trees grew poorly since couldn’t get enough

nutrients needed to grow

NOTE: High elevation trees more susceptible to

loss of symbionts since soil nutrients lower

Valuable health food

12

QUESTION: Why are Mushrooms

important for Humans?

Valuable health food - low in calories, high in

vegetable proteins, chitin, iron, zinc, fiber,

essential amino acids, vitamins & minerals

[long history of use in Traditional Chinese

Medicine]

BUT ALSO

Effective poison

Mushroom/

Uses

Lentinula

edodes

Shiitake

Ganoderma

lucidium

Reishi

Grifola

frondosa

Maitake

Tremella

fuciformis

Silver-Ear

Anti-Viral + + - -

Anti-Tumor + + + +

Immune Enhancer + + + +

Anti-inflammatory - + - +

Blood Pressure + + + +

Cardio-Vascular + + - +

Lower Cholesterol + + - +

Increase Libido + - - -

Kidney Tonic - + - -

Asthma / Bronchial - + - +

Stress Reduction - + - -

Diabetes - - + +

Liver / Hepatitis + + + +

Chitin + + + +

Chinese Medicine- http://gmushrooms.com/health/nmh.html

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Chanterelle –

high in

Vitamin C and

potassium

one of the

richest known

sources of

vitamin D

Valuable health food

People guard their favorite mushroom patch in a

forest so no one else collects there – very secretive

“A truffle is basically an edible

fungus, .. mushroom. …black and

white, ..look like rocks covered in

dirt. Yum!

But how can something that looks like that be so

delicious? A little bit of truffle goes a long way.

Just a thin shaving of truffle can infuse an entire

dish with a mushroomy/garlicy flavor that is

impossibly rich, yet delicate at the same time. As

a result, one little truffle can easily be used to

flavor several dishes…”

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thedailyv.com/wp-

content/uploads/2009/07/TrufflePig.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thedailyv.com/%3Fp%3D69&h=318&w

=467&sz=75&tbnid=aucIvZp-

OpzDuM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpictures%2Bof%2Bpigs%2Bor%2Bdogs%2Bs

niffing%2Bfor%2Btruffles&hl=en&usg=__LRuENdgr9TKPP-_2-

tqdbIA532o=&ei=qwDSS9SUH4_WsgOL4pSGCg&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&ved

=0CAwQ9QEwAQ

Truffles – a high valued mushroom for HUMANS

Valuable health food

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Oregon black truffle

chirashi, prepared by

Justin Wills, executive chef

of Restaurant Beck, for the

Oregon Truffle Festival

Photography by Laura D'Art

for WSJ. Magazine

Also GOOD EATS or Tastes

Good – This is important!!

Some restaurants willing to buy truffles for up to $400 per pound

In 1994, black truffles sold from $350 to

$500 a pound

THERE IS MONEY IN MUSHROOMS

People willing to pay lots of money to eat them

WSJ READING: “But the European variety still

costs me $1,500 a pound, where the Oregon

white truffle at that time was $80 a pound.“

BUT THIS IS CHANGING!!

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QUESTION: Why are they so expensive!!!

Valuable health food

Here’s the real answer:

It is impossible to cultivate truffles

artificially. Farmers can’t grow fields of

truffles, like they can with corn or wheat

Truffles are produced by mycorrhizal

associations

Truffles are only found with certain tree species

You will not find truffles under maples because

maples do not form associations with fungi that

form mycorrhizas. Trees forming mycorrhizal

associations [& therefore truffles] are:

Pines

Firs

Douglas-fir

Oaks

hazel nuts

Hickories

Birches

Beeches, and eucalyptus.

Valuable health food

16

QUESTION: So how do you

‘hunt’ for truffles?

Valuable health food

Would you believe if I told

you a 4 legged creature

is needed??

Truffles grow underground, and are hunted by

locating them by their smell

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thedailyv.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/TrufflePig.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thedailyv.com/%3Fp%3D69&h=318&w=467&sz=75&tbnid=aucIvZp-

OpzDuM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpictures%2Bof%2Bpigs%2Bor%2Bdogs%2Bsniffing%2Bfor%2Btruffles&hl=en&usg=__LRuENdgr9TKPP-_2-

tqdbIA532o=&ei=qwDSS9SUH4_WsgOL4pSGCg&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&ved=0CAwQ9QEwAQ

The task of truffle-hunting is

usually carried out by two

animals:

Dogs or…. Pigs!

Valuable health food

Only FEMALE Pigs!!

17

Truffle finding dog

Not easy to train a dog to do this:

Costs $6,000 to buy this guy!!

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Going for truffles with his doghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vxEaWyLdV44/SwMNMuan0fI/AAAAAAAAAME/JZ2WzJlgaGM/s1600/TRUFFLES+-+dog.jpg

Valuable health food

http://seattleti

mes.com/flatpa

ges/video/medi

acenterbc3.htm

l?bctid=21524

36715001

American Red Squirrel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Red_Squirrel

Northern Flying Squirrel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FS1.jpg

Valuable health food

QUESTION: What do you think

these guys eat???

19

Truffles attract animals

to dig them up & to eat

them by producing a

smell; spores dispersed

when eat the outer

edges of the mushroom

In North America, squirrels and

chipmunks major wild animals dispersing

truffle spores - they store mushrooms in

holes in treeshttp://herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/funfacts/truffind.htm

Valuable health food

Valuable health food

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Since Flying Squirrels mostly

eat mushrooms, mushrooms

have to be nutritious

Photo courtesy Jerry Franklin

Valuable health food

Can’t get better than

this for a squirrel!! A

feast!!http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9fe8kwOgb1qbtajg.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee306/

hannah_hoe888/Alice_in_Wonderland.jpghttp://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alicepic/disney-

movie/alice-on-mushroom-2.jpg

Other benefits/costs of eating MUSHROOMS

Humans & other repercussions of eating mushrooms!!

EATING MUSHROOMS ALLOWS HUMANS TO HAVE A GOOD

MEAL, SEE THINGS, HALLUCINATE, HEAR UNUSUAL NOISES, OR

DIE!!!!

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FACTS on Mushroom Poisons:

• 70-80 species of poisonous mushrooms to humans [15-20

lethal]

• 95% mushroom poisoning cases are misidentifications as

edible when poisonous [Often recent immigrants collect & eat

poisonous US species that resembles edible wild mushroom

from their native land]

• 5% mushroom poisoning people purposefully consume the

mushroom for its “mind-altering” properties

• 8,722 mushroom exposure incidents reported in US in 2003 by

the American Association of Poison Control Centers, with 5

deaths and 45 serious outcomes.

http://www.mdguidelines.com/toxic-effects-mushrooms

Effective poison

“There are quite a number of species, …mildly

poisonous and/or hallucinogenic. .. truly

deadly species …smelled so bad or ..so bitter

that it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to eat

them. If your friends consider you

slightly loony, then just go buy your

mushrooms from stores.”

http://www.backyardnature.net/f/eat_mush.htm

THE AMANITAS

“One genus of

mushroom deserves

special mention because

several of its species are

deadly poisonous.”

Effective poison

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Claudius was unfortunate

enough to have been born with

defects. He limped, he drooled,

he stuttered, was constantly ill.

He read voraciously & became a

scholar of considerable ability &

composed works on all subjects

in the liberal arts, especially

historyhttp://www.roman-emperors.org/claudius.htm Ti. Claudius Nero

Germanicus;

emperor, 41-54 CE)

- third emperor of

the Julio-Claudian

dynastyhttp://www.solarnavigator.net/history/explorers_history/roman_e

mperor_claudius.jpg

Effective poison

LEFT: Agrippina and

her son Nero crowned

emperor at age 17

She is accused of

poisoning 2 of her

husbands, married

Claudius and made him

her 3rd

husband she

poisoned

BUT only after she got

Claudius to declare

Nero as his heir

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Amanita_phalloides_1.JPG

Effective poison

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Amanita_phalloides_1.JPG

Now you know why you need a food taster if

you are an important person!!

The principal toxic constituent

is α-amanitin which damages

the liver & kidneys, often

fatally

KEY POINT: No definitive antidote is known

Effective poison

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Salmon: Fish of the Forest and

Keystone Species

QUESTIONS:

What human built structure has significantly

impacted salmon survival and changed Native

American cultures?

Why would fewer salmon migrating up river

systems reduce growth rates of forests along

rivers??

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Damming

RULE OF THUMB:

Every dam reduces

salmon migration

by 10%

Dams –

all

circles

QUESTION: How

many dams on

main stem of the

Columbia R?

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Entire river

system?

More than 400

Grand Coulee Dam –

26

Key Question?

What are the

consequences of

reduced salmon

populations?

Why do Live Salmon add nutrients to forests??

Where do the nutrients come from??

27

What are the causes of this problem?

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=40

7&issue_id=68

FACT 1:

Salmon

bring ocean

nutrients

back to the

land –

especially

nitrogen

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Salmon in the Great Bear

Rainforest are so plentiful

that the region's bears &

wolves specialize catching

live fish as they swim

through shallow waters on

their way to spawning

streams

http://www.canada.com/technology/salmon+play+hidden+role+coastal+forest+eco

logy+researchers+find/4498634/story.html#ixzz1Hdqe0FLd, By Margaret Munro,

Postmedia News March 24, 2011

http://www.katmaibears.com/images/img0028.jpg

Wolves fishing for

salmon in the Great

Bear Rainforest

Wolf-killed

pink salmon

carcassesPhoto: Ian McAllister

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Bears:

drag salmon onto stream

banks or forest edges to eat

consume the oily roe, belly,

brain & skin and leave the

rest of the carcass

Salmon:

Other insects and small

mammals eat the carcasses

Carcasses not eaten break

down releasing nutrients to

plants in the riparian zone.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&ar

ticles_id=407&issue_id=68

FACT 1: Bears selectively consume parts of a

salmon to maximize energy intake, not eat all of it

Tom Quinn photo

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FACT 2: Brown bear

populations with more

dietary meat (salmon) have

larger litters than those

eating primarily vegetation

Hilderbrand et al. 1999

Not a very

healthy bear –

too skinny!!

Tom Quinn photos

Study of 50 watersheds in the

Great Bear Rainforest on British

Columbia's central coast:

bears, fish-catching wolves and

other predators haul huge

amounts of salmon into the

forest that provide a potent

"nutrient subsidy" that drives

plant growth in surrounding

forest

http://www.canada.com/technology/salmon+play+hidden+role+coastal+forest+eco

logy+researchers+find/4498634/story.html#ixzz1Hdqe0FLd, By Margaret Munro,

Postmedia News March 24, 2011

http://www.katmaibears.com/images/img0028.jpg

FACT 3: Salmon

carcasses help forests to

grow faster!!

31

Up to 70% nitrogen found in

riparian zone tree foliage

comes from salmon

Trees growing on the banks

of salmon-stocked rivers

grow 3X faster than along

salmon-free rivers

RESULT: Sitka spruce take 86

years, rather the usual 300

years, to reach 50 cm thick

diameter if fertilized by salmon

carcasseshttp://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=407&issue_id=68

Amy Gulick photo

Bear eating salmon in a tree

Scavenging

Tom Quinn photo

Photo: Tom Quinn

FACT 4: Dead salmon also

important part of

ecosystem food web!!

32

Pathways of Nutrients from Salmon

Salmon – increase insects abundance

adjacent to stream; insects basis of food

chain (small fish eat them, birds eat them,

amphibians and larger insects eat them)

KEYSTONE

SPECIES!!

64

TODAY’S THREADS

CASE STUDIES: Animal species dependent upon forests for

some phase of their survival, not generalist species that can live

anywhere, are keystone species that are important in the recovery

rate of forest landscapes impacted by disturbances

TODAY

Mycorrhizas – allow forests to grow in nutrient

poor and toxic environments, symbionts that excess

fertilizer kills, humans enjoy eating their fruiting bodies

(mushrooms) but also can be killed from eating them

Salmon – keystone species that is also a cultural

symbol, fertilizes forests with ocean nutrients

Coqui – highly adapted to disturbances, increase the resilience of tropical forests to

disturbances, loved in Puerto Rico and hated in Hawaii