| NSF Org: |
DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 18, 2012 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | May 23, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1206196 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Reed Beaman
rsbeaman@nsf.gov (703)292-7163 DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2012 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $237,681.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $237,681.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2601 WOLF VILLAGE WAY RALEIGH NC US 27695-0001 (919)515-2444 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NC US 27695-7614 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Digitization |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
The Macrofungi Collection Consortium: Unlocking a Biodiversity Resource for Understanding Biotic Interactions, Nutrient Cycling and Human Affairs
Mushrooms and related fungi (macrofungi) play a critical role in the lives of plants and animals, including humans, yet their diversity is underestimated. Understanding this diversity will be critical in analyzing impacts of habitat change, nutrient cycling in ecosystems, and distributions and diversity of host organisms. Scientists in the U.S. have been studying these fungi for the past 150 years, resulting in a legacy of approximately 1.4 million dried scientific specimens conserved in 35 institutions in 24 states. These institutions have now joined in an effort to digitize and share online all data associated with macrofungi specimens. The resulting resource will enable a national census of macrofungi, never before attempted, and will allow researchers to better understand the diversity of these organisms and the relationship between macrofungi and the organisms with which they form intimate relationships.
Organized into clubs across the country, citizen mycologists play an important role in documenting macrofungi diversity, and these enthusiastic individuals are the conduit between professional scientists and the general public for critical information about wild edible and poisonous fungi. Citizen mycologists will join the collections institutions in this project to help to create the on-line resource. The project will fund two workshops for high school teachers to promote classroom study of fungi. University students employed by the project will gain work experience in digitization and formal training about fungi. Students will share the knowledge they gain through oral and video presentations. This award is made as part of the National Resource for Digitization of Biological Collections through the Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections program and all data resulting from this award will be available through the national resource (iDigBio.org).
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The storage and preservation of fungal collections in the Larry F. Grand Mycological Herbarium at North Carolina State University provides valuable information for educators, policy makers and the public about the importance of fungi to the environment and society. Electronic access and digital imaging of fungal specimens, photographs, and field notes housed in herbarium collections represent an important resource for 1) state and federal regulatory agencies concerned with the introduction of invasive species of fungi that harm humans and plants, 2) identifying wood decay fungi that can be used to convert wood into bioenergy, 3) understanding how environmental change influences the occurrence and geographic distribution of fungi, and 4) providing opportunities for middle/high school and pre-service teachers to interact with scientists and develop experiential learning-based lesson plans. For this project, we also developed a focus stacking technique to produce high resolution digital images of three dimensional wood decay fungi collected from ecologically diverse habitats in the southern and southeastern US that include the 1) Southern Appalachian mountains, 2) Nags Head Woods, the largest contiguous maritime forest on a barrier island in the southeastern US and 3) the only remaining longleaf pine ecosystem in North Carolina in Weymouth Woods. This project also provided training for undergraduate students from underrepresented and low socioeconomic populations that represent the next generation of scientists.
Last Modified: 09/01/2017
Modified by: Marc A Cubeta
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