Canopy Density and Its Effect on Macrofungal Abundance

• Daphne MacLeod

  Juniata College

  Author

• Allie Hirschhorn

  Juniata College

  Author

• Sydney Riegel

  Juniata College

  Author

• Sidd Stevens

  Juniata College

  Author

The presence of macrofungi plays a crucial role in the forest ecosystem as well as for their influence on humans. Forest canopy density provides conditions that may influence the growth of macrofungal growth. The density of the canopy was quantified in order to determine whether canopy density influences fungal growth. Sites were located when there was fungal growth near the base of different trees. Within a 10 foot radius of the tree, the number of macrofungi was counted and the canopy density was determined. A Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis was conducted which resulted in an r value of 0.4382 which indicated a positive correlation, however the p value (0.2053) indicated that there is no statistical significance between canopy density and the abundance of macrofungi. The slight positive correlation indicates that perhaps the conditions received from a greater canopy density play a role in the growth of macrofungi, but there are other important factors that are required for a greater abundance of macrofungi.

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