Daniel Lindner

Title: Research Plant Pathologist
Unit: Biological and Environmental Influences on Forest Health and Productivity
Previous Unit: Center for Forest Mycology Research
Address: Northern Research Station
One Gifford Pinchot Drive
Madison, WI 53726
Phone: (608) 231-9511
E-mail: Contact Daniel Lindner

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Education

• Post-doctoral Fellow, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden
• Ph.D. Degree, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Dept. of Plant Pathology
• B.S. Degree, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Dept. of Botany

Civic & Professional Affiliations

Mycological Society of America, North American Mycological Association, Wisconsin Mycological Society

Current Research

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:

• Investigating the effects of nitrogen fertilization on wood-decay rates and carbon respiration in northern forests
• Determining the effects of mortality agent (wind-throw vs. beetle-kill) on decay patterns in spruce forests
• Investigating evolutionary patterns and species boundaries in Laetiporus (Sulfur Shelf or Chicken of the Woods) and Wolfiporia
• Bio-geographic and systematic studies of fungi from the Caribbean basin, especially Belize
• Surveys of root-associated fungi in the upper Midwestern US, including mycorrhizal fungi associated with American chestnut

Why is This Important

Fungi are the only organisms capable of efficiently releasing the carbon stored in woody plant material. When human actions affect fungal communities, the resulting changes could affect how much carbon an ecosystem sequesters or returns to the atmosphere. DNA-based methods for studying wood-inhabiting fungal communities are needed to fully understand the links between changes in the fungal community and changes in decay rates and carbon respiration.

Future Research

• Determining the effects of biomass harvesting on wood-inhabiting fungal communities in aspen ecosystems
• Investigating species boundaries and evolutionary relationships in the brown-rot genus Daedalea

Featured Publications

Additional Online Publications