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The function of fungus photos by Steve Johnson SOU biology professor Darlene Southworth checks for truffles as part of a study looking at the interaction of mycorrhizal fungi and oak trees at the Whetstone Savanna. Scientist, students dig into oak tract in $4.8 million study By Paul Fattig of the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT -- Brown fuzzies. White fuzzies. Black hairies. Smooth white ones. They may sound like the latest flies being tied by those who whip Rogue River riffles with fly line, but they are actually monikers used in cutting-edge scientific research involving three West Coast universities studying underground fungi. "That's how we describe the different kinds of mycorrhizal fungi we're finding -- brown fuzzies, smooth white ones," explained Lori Valentine, a Southern Oregon University graduate student in environmental education. "At some point, they will have technical names, once they do the DNA testing," she added. "But there is more meaning when you have a descriptive name. And it could be that some of them have no scientific names yet." Valentine is one of the students working with Darlene Southworth, an SOU biology professor heading the study at the Whetstone Savanna Preserve, a nearly 150-acre tract of Oregon white oak owned and protected by The Nature Conservancy. Last fall, the National Science Foundation granted a total of $4.8 million for the three universities to collaborate on the five-year study of biocomplexity. Joining Southworth are five other scientists from the Universities of California at Davis and Riverside. In addition to the Whetstone Savanna, the six scientists are studying white oaks -- also known as Garry oaks -- at a site in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Yuba City and another near Riverside. Troy Bainbridge, left, a senior majoring in biology at Southern Oregon University, takes a soil sample with the help of fellow SOU student Deanna Moore. The study quite literally involves ground-breaking research. The scientists are trying to determine whether individual oaks are linked by fungi on their roots, creating a network that allows the trees to transfer carbon and nutrients, Southworth explained during a field trip Friday afternoon. "We used to think that plant communities set the stage: They responded to the soil. They created habitat for animals. And that the dominant vegetation was the one who called the shots," she said. "Well, it may be the whole community is controlled by underground fungi. That's what we want to find out. "This fungus actually changes the shape and structure of the root," she added. "The root is the combination of a fungus and a higher plant tissue." The lives of the trees and the fungi are believed to be so interwoven that one cannot exist without the other. The Whetstone Savanna, with its easily accessible and protected grove of white oak, was ideal for the study, Southworth said. The site is less than half a dozen miles north of Interstate 5 between the Table Rocks and Central Point. A core sample taken by The Nature Conservancy of a white oak less than two feet in diameter indicated it was more than 200 years old. The shallow, poor soil at the site has helped preserve the tract since it wasn't greatly disturbed by agricultural development, although it had been used for grazing in the past. The first field campaign by the scientists was held in the Whetstone Savanna last November. On Friday, students took soil samples at varying distances from the tree trunks. They began with a spot halfway between the trunk and the canopy's edge, another at the edge of the canopy and a third beyond the canopy. The core samples are taken six inches into the soil. "This is interesting -- it should lead to a lot of cool findings," said Deanna Moore, an SOU sophomore taking soil samples. Harold Berninghausen, a laboratory technician in the SOU biology department, was looking for mushrooms nearby. Any mushrooms found were not destined for dinner, he said, adding they would simply be part of the study. "The mushroom, hopefully, is the fruiting body of the mycorrhiza," he said. "But it's all so new we really don't know who is who yet. That's what we're trying to find out." Southworth was looking for truffles for the same reason. She wasn't successful. "This is a new area of research for me, one that is extremely stimulating," said Southworth, who has taught at the school for 20 years. "To come in and ask questions and learn new techniques is extremely exciting." A botanist by training with a doctorate in biology, Southworth, 58, has spent most of her career studying things above the ground. She has specialized in examining how flowering plant sperm and eggs attract and attach to each other. The five-year project, which began last fall, will involve field sampling, greenhouse studies and microscopic work. At this early stage of the study, the focus is on categorizing the underground fungi, she said. "We want to find how many are here and how many samples it takes to identify the players," she said. This coming week, Southworth and Berninghausen will be studying at UC-Riverside to learn molecular techniques for identifying them. "The thrust of the study is to understand the common micorrhizal network," she reiterated. "The linkage is between trees by underground fungi. This will help us understand plant communities at a different level." Increased knowledge means increased understanding of human decisions impacting the world we inhabit, she said. "You can use that understanding to do what you need to do to manage the land," she said. "Right now, what's going on below the ground is very hidden. We want to find out what's happening down there." 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