ANIMALS ARE AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT TO FORESTS, YET MUCH REMAINS UNKNOWN ABOUT HOW THEIR FUNCTIONAL ROLE MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF FORESTS UNDER ANTHROPOGENIC STRESSORS, INVASIVE PESTS, AND CLIMATE CHANGE. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF SMALL MAMMALS (MICE, VOLES, CHIPMUNKS) IN MEDIATING SOIL FUNGAL DIVERSITY AND THE SUBSEQUENT EFFECTS ON FOREST REGENERATION FOLLOWING TIMBER HARVEST. MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI ARE SYMBIONTS THAT COLONIZE ROOTS AND ASSIST TREES WITH NUTRIENT AND WATER UPTAKE. TO AID IN THEIR DISPERSAL, FUNGI PRODUCE FRUITING BODIES WHICH SMALL MAMMALS CONSUME, SUBSEQUENTLY DISPERSING THE SPORES ACROSS THE FOREST THROUGH THEIR SCAT. THUS, SIMILAR TO POLLINATORS, SMALL MAMMALS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO MEDIATE LOCAL FUNGAL DIVERSITY WHICH SUBSEQUENTLY MAY AFFECT TREE ESTABLISHMENT AND GROWTH. TO ASSESS THESE LINKAGES, THE PROPOSED WORK WILL COUPLE SURVEYS OF SMALL MAMMALS AND TREE SEEDLINGS IN CLEARED AND ADJACENT MATURE FOREST, WITH A GREENHOUSE EXPERIMENT. HIGH-THROUGHPUT SEQUENCING WILL BE USED TO CHARACTERIZE FUNGAL COMMUNITIES IN SOIL, MAMMAL SCAT, AND ON TREE ROOT TIPS. THIS PROJECT WILL GENERATE MUCH NEEDED EMPIRICAL DATA ON WHICH MAMMAL SPECIES BEST DISPERSE FUNGI, THE DISTANCE OVER WHICH THEY DISPERSE SPORES INTO CLEARED FOREST GAPS, AND HOW MAMMAL MEDIATED FUNGAL SPORE DISPERSAL IMPACTS THE MYCORRHIZAL COLONIZATION, SURVIVAL, AND GROWTH OF TREE SEEDLINGS. ULTIMATELY, THIS WORK WILL HAVE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR HOW ANIMALS CONTRIBUTE TO THE RESPONSE OF FORESTS TO DISTURBANCE, INCLUDING REGENERATION FOLLOWING TIMBER HARVEST, AND WILL DEMONSTRATE THE VALUE OF THE MUTUALISTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SMALL MAMMALS AND MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT. SPECIFICALLY, FOREST MANAGERS MAY BE ABLE TO INCREASE SEEDLING ESTABLISHMENT AND TREE GROWTH FOLLOWING TIMBER HARVESTS BY MAINTAINING HABITAT FOR SMALL MAMMALS CRITICAL FOR THE DISPERSAL OF MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI.