PLACA Presents: Yazmin Rivera

A Tale of Pine Plantations and Alien Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Assemblages in Puerto Rico Pine trees were introduced to Puerto Rico during the 1940’s in order to promote the timber industry in the island, however, the trees were not growing as expected, many of them not reaching maturity. In 1955, soil from the United States, potentially harboring beneficial mycorrhizal fungi was introduced as a source of inoculum. After this introduction, pine trees were growing successfully and several plantations were established in the central region of the island. However, there are no data describing the species of ectomycorrhizal (EMF) fungi associated with pine trees in Puerto Rico and furthermore, there are no data regarding the role of EMF in the success of exotic pine trees establishing outside plantations in the island. During the summer of 2009 the montane region of the island was surveyed for the presence of ectomycorrhizal fungi and exotic pine trees regenerating naturally. Three plantations were selected for the study and root samples were collected for further identification using DNA extraction and RFLP methods.