Home Department: Biology
Supported by: The Rose Hills Foundation
Mentor: Erin Mordecai, Biology

Serpentine soil is toxic to most plant species, but a select few native plant species have evolved to tolerate these generally poisonous growing conditions. Has this unique chemical environment led to the evolution of a similarly specific fungal species community in serpentine grasslands? Johannah hopes to answer this question, as it will provide insight into the role that fungal pathogens play in the ecosystem dynamics of California grasslands.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 24, 2016:

Effects of Soil Chemistry on Plant Pathogen Communities

Johannah Farner¹, Erin R. Spear¹, Caroline Daws¹, Erin A. Mordecai¹
[Department of Biology¹, Stanford University]