Soil Sample Study-Vegetation Assessment

Examine the photographs of the vegetation at each of the 4 soil sample sites (on Canvas) and answer the following questions.

Question 1

Examine the pictures of the four sites from which soil was collected, and the heat map of morphotypes in each sample (generated automatically in the Excel spread sheet). Which fungal morphotypes were the most abundant at each site? Which sites had the greatest similarity (shared morphotypes) and which were most different? How does the vegetation differ at the 4 sites and how is this likely to influence diversity of fungi at each. Explain your reasoning.  

Question 2

In this experiment, a number of different fungal morphotypes were isolated from soil at Banks St. Reserve and some of these were tentatively identified to genus by reference to colonies of similar appearance in previous studies. For three of the morphotypes identified, research their biology and lifecycle and how they interact with the environment, and in particular with plants and/or invertebrates. Provide a brief outline for each one supported by appropriate references.

Question 3

From the class data provided for each site, create graphs to demonstrate the difference in richness and diversity (Shannon diversity index) between the 4 sites. Make sure the axes are labelled appropriately.  Summarise what the results tell you about the richness and diversity of fungi at the different sites.  Discuss these results considering your answers to questions 1 and 2.

 Part 2

These 2 questions can just be 5 sentences each does not have to be too long.