Dependence of endophytic fungus - grass symbioses on land-use intensity

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jochen Krauss
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions ; Ecology of Land Use
• Term: from 2014 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 252061897

In this project we focus on ecological and potentially economic effects of systemic endophytic fungi of the genus Epichloë on alkaloid production, herbivore toxicity, temporal dynamics and biotic interactions between species along a land-use intensity gradient. With our study we want to address the following research questions:1) Which pathway alkaloids are produced by the endophyte-grass associations sampled on 150 grasslands across Germany?2) Does land-use intensity affect endophyte frequencies and alkaloid concentrations between years?3) Do endophyte-grass symbioses in real world ecosystems show the same temporal dynamics in endophyte growth and alkaloid production than agriculturally used grass species under common garden conditions?4) Is the assemblage of foliar fungal endophytes in grass affected by land-use intensity?5) Do systemic fungal endophytes affect foliar fungal endophyte assemblages in grass species?6) Can we predict causes and risks for alkaloid concentrations above the toxicity levels for livestock?

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1374: Biodiversity Exploratories
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Martin J. Müller