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Kabir Peay
Doctoral Student
301 Mulford Hall
E-mail:
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my research is focused on plant-fungal interactions in forest ecosystems. specifically, i work with ectomycorrhizal fungi. these fungi form an obligate symbiosis with the roots of many trees, trading soil nutrients to their tree hosts in exchange for photosynthetically derived carbon. unfortunately, these organisms are very difficult to study in nature, primarily because they inhabit an opaque medium (the soil) and are difficult to identify. for this reason study of their ecology has lagged far behind other organisms, such as plants and animals. my research is aimed at improving our knowlede of how habitat size and isolation affect the community structure of ectomycorrhizal fungi. while plant and animal communities tend to decrease in richness on smaller, more isolated habitats. however, it\'s unclear how ectomycorrhizal fungi will respond to such changes because of their microscopic nature and easily dispersed spores.
After Hours
if the weather is cooperating i can often be found at ocean beach seeing how much water and sand i can ingest during a surf session. during the rainy season i\'m often in the woods looking for edible mushrooms. after i leave berkeley i plan on auctionning off my mushroom spots to the highest bidder (that means you Tom).
Publications
- Peay, KG. 2003. Implications of a strong ENSO drought across three lowland mixed dipterocarp forest types on dipterocarp seedling survivorship in Indonesian Borneo. Tropical Resources. 22 (22-28).
- Lu Z, Peay KG. 2002. Ecosystem profile: mountains of southwest China. Critical Ecosystem Protection Fund. http://www.cepf.net/he/SouthwestChina.pdf.
- Forrestel AB and KG Peay. (Accepted). Deforestation in a complex landscape: The Amistad Biosphere Reserve. Journal of Sustainable Forestry.
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