How are fungi responding to changing climate, and what factors control the distributions of fungal species at local to continental scales?

Fungi play important roles in ecosystems and have ubiquitous and intimate interactions with plants. Despite their important roles, we know very little about how fungi are responding to climate change.

In a collaborative project led by  Bitty Roy  we are exploring what factors control the distributions of fungal species at local to continental scales in North America.  The “CLIMUSH” project (Climate and Mushrooms) is testing how fire history and habitat type (oak, conifer, grasslands) mediate the distributions of fungal species at continental to local scales, and how these relationships vary among soil, litter, and endophytic fungi.

In collaboration with  Håvard Kauserud & ClimFun team , we’re using datasets from North America and collaborating on a Europe-wide project aiming to build an understanding of how fungi are responding to climate change.