life, earth & environment seminar series · life, earth & environment seminar series when:...

Life, Earth & Environment Seminar Series

When:  Wednesday  15th  July,  12  –  1  pm  Where:  Natural  Resources  Building,  Lecture  Theatre  1  (EM1)  

Professor  Jim  Trappe,    Department  of  Forest  Science,  Oregon  State  University,  USA  

 Over   the   last   80   million   years,   Australia’s  separa7on   from   other   con7nents   and   it’s  changing   to  ever  warmer  and  drier   climate  has  selected   for   endemic   taxa   adapted   to   hot,   dry  climates  and  wildfire.  The  major  Australian  tree  species   depend   on  mycorrhizal   fungi   as   is   true  for   the   rest  of   the  world,  but  unusual  numbers  of   Australian   mycorrhizal   fungi   have   evolved  adapta7ons  to  its  climate.  Ectomycorrhizal  fungi  common   to   the   Myrtaceae   and   Casuarinaceae  include   an   extraordinary   diversity   of   truffle  species   that   fruit   below   ground   for   spore  produc7on.  These  are  protected  from  heat,    

Contact:  Dr  Rose  Andrew:  randre20@une.edu.au  Dr  Emma  SherraN:  esherrat@une.edu.au  

Biography  Professor  Trappe  is  the  Mycology  Master.  He  earned  his  B.Sc.  in  Forest   Management   at   the   University   of   Washington,   his  Masters  at  the  State  University  of  New  York,  and  his  Ph.D  also  at  UW.  He  has  wriNen  many  books  on  Fungi.  

Why  Australia  needs  truffles:  co-­‐evolved  interacOons  of  fungi,  animals  and  plants  in  an  era  of  climate  change  

drought   and   fire   that   can   kill   above-­‐ground   mushrooms.  Moreover,  truffles  are  a  major  food  resource  for  many  animals.  This   evolu7onary   trend   offers   important   possibili7es   for  con7nuing  produc7vity  of   fungi,  animals  and  plants   interac7ng  during  warming  climate.