In 2007, my University of Guelph colleagues Hafiz Maherali and John Klironomos, and I started a long-term field experiment to examine the broader ecological impacts of endophytic fungi. Many previous researchers have investigated the ecological impacts of endophytic fungi, but much of this work has been conducted on a single cultivar or a single grass species: the Kentucky-31 cultivar of tall fescue. This cultivar is known for producing high concentrations of alkaloids. It is not clear whether the impacts reported are general impacts of endophytes or are peculiar to this cultivar of tall fescue.
In this study we established 240 2x2 meter permanent plots in a old field grassland at the Guelph Turfgrass Institute and Environmental Research Centre. The main experiment comprises 10 cultivars of tall fescue and 10 cultivars of perennial ryegrass. For each grass species, five of the cultivars are endophyte infected and five are endophyte free. In addition to these 200 plots, there are 10 plots that serve as controls, and three sets of 10 plots planted with novel grass-endophyte associations (Georgia 5 and Jessup tall fescue cultivars with AR547, and AberDart perennial ryegrass with AR1).
In spring of 2008 we put in another 100 plots. 70 of these comprise 10 plots each of seven medow fescue cultivars (4 infected and 3 uninfected with the endophyte). The other 20 plots are 10 each of endophyte-infected Kentucky-31 tall fescue and another endophyte-free tall fescue cultivar (and 10 more control plots).
PIs: Jonathan Newman and Hafiz Maherali