Geological Society of America

9 Undergraduate Research (Posters)

Thursday, 7 April 2022
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Junior Ballroom B

FUNGI IN A WARMER WORLD: MIDDLE MIOCENE FUNGAL ASSEMBLAGES FROM ALUM BLUFF, FLORIDA

Paper number: 9-52
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Authors

Laikin Tarlton Presenting Author
Department of Biology and Chemistry, Morehead, KY
Sophie Warny
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Matthew J. Pound
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
Jennifer O'Keefe
Department of Physics, Earth Science, and Space Systems Engineering, Morehead, KY
Savannah Jones
Morehead State University, Morehead, KY
Abigayle Caldwell
Morehead State University, Morehead, KY
Ingrid Romero
Department of Physics, Earth Science, and Space Systems Engineering, Morehead, MS
Noelia B. Nuñez Otaño
Laboratorio de Geología de Llanuras, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Diamante, MS
Tyler Spears
Department of Physics, Earth Science, and Space Systems Engineering, Morehead, MS
C. Jolene Fairchild
Department of Physics, Earth Science, and Space Systems Engineering, Morehead, MS
June E. Lennex-Stone
Department of Engineering Sciences, Morehead, MS
Taylor Horsfall
Morehead State University, Morehead, KY

Abstract

Fungi are necessary components of stable ecosystems worldwide because of their key roles in the terrestrial carbon cycle, formation of soils, and plant growth. As such, it is critically important to understand how fungal assemblages will react to future warming scenarios. One way to do this is to look at fossil fungal assemblages from the Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO), an analog for future climate changes, and predict how modern fungal assemblages will react. Here, we present a study of the fungal biodiversity found in sediments deposited during the MCO (15-18 MA) from the Fort Preston Formation exposed at Alum Bluff, Florida, USA. The paleoflora and paleofauna of this formation is well known, but this is the first study of stratigraphically constrained fungal occurrences. Overall, the fungal assemblages are low diversity, in which some are saprophytes, and others are soil fungi. This study is part of building the long-term, large-scale dataset needed to model past fungal assemblage changes and predict future fungal dynamics in response to climate change.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 54, No. 4

doi: 10.1130/abs/2022NC-375499

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