Dan Lindner

Credentials: US Forest Service

Position title: Biological and Environmental Influences on Forest Health and Productivity, Genetics, Biological Control, and Management of Invasive Species

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My current research examines how human actions can affect fungal communities, and how the resulting changes can affect ecosystem function, especially carbon cycling. I am particularly interested in wood-inhabiting fungi and the development of DNA-based methods for detecting fungi in environmental samples. I also work with biosystematics of fungi, with an emphasis on fungi in the Antrodia-clade of polypores. Current projects include:
1. Investigating the effects of nitrogen fertilization on wood-decay rates and carbon respiration in northern forests
2. Determining the effects of mortality agent (wind-throw vs. beetle-kill) on decay patterns in spruce forests
3. Investigating evolutionary patterns and species boundaries in Laetiporus (Sulfur Shelf or Chicken of the Woods) and Wolfiporia
4. Bio-geographic and systematic studies of fungi from the Caribbean basin, especially Belize
5. Surveys of root-associated fungi in the upper Midwestern US, including mycorrhizal fungi associated with American chestnut