User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
My research is primarily concerned with the presence or absence of conks growing on trees. This relates to tree health, possibly opportunistic pathogens, and succession of a second-growth forest.
An idea that underpins my research is conk prevalence in one area of Mundy Forest. Is it a natural environmental condition, is it there because of tree disease and is the tree decaying before the presence of conks or because of it? It also touches on disturbance regimes and the successional stages of the forest (micro-disturbance from the death of trees allowing more lower canopy growth with additional light availability). The typical forest structure of the Pacific North West includes an iconic species, Western redcedar, in which climate change is strongly affecting the typical forest diversity. Changes in precipitation, temperature and drought patterns are affecting the distribution and health of Western redcedar. This may be an idea underpinning my research of tree health or decline and may have nothing to do with conks.
Tree health, opportunistic pathogens, climate change, bracket fungi
