Project:

Foraging for Fungi: Mushrooms as Bioindicators of Air Quality

Students:

Stella Maymin, Catherine Tucker

School:

Rye country day School, Other

Mentors:

Jennifer Busuttil-Doran

Abstract:

Why are fungi excellent bioindicators for environmental and health risk assessment? Using fungi to indicate and assess air quality can provide critical information about environments to ecologists. For example, when fungi are exposed to polluted air, the process of photosynthesis is disturbed, lowering the pH and the production of chlorophyll [4]. Areas with an abundance of fungi are more likely to have good air quality and fewer pollutants. On the other hand, a lack of vegetation and presence of fungi indicates high air pollution. High air pollution leads to disturbances in human health and poor living conditions. As well as indicating air quality, some fungi are able to help remove hydrocarbons from the air, creating a cleaner environment. Playing an important role in climate change research, fungi are also capable of purifying the soil and breaking down complex materials like plastics. This study aims to investigate the distribution and abundance of fungi and to relate these to air

Poster:

Team samples: