The mechanics of fungal dispersal are poorly understood. Ecology is fundamentally a description of organisms in time and space, and no description of fungal ecology will be complete without knowledge of dispersal. We are using an array of tools from biology, math and physics to film and model the movements of spores, and understand how fungi disperse in nature.

Oneto, D.L., J. Golan, A. Mazzino, A. Pringle, A. Seminara. 2020. Timing of fungal spore release dictates survival during atmospheric transport. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 117:5134-5143.

Boynton, P.J., C.N. Peterson, A. Pringle. 2019. Superior dispersal ability can lead to persistent ecological dominance throughout succession. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 85:e02421-18.

Golan, J., A. Pringle. 2017. Long-distance dispersal of fungi. Microbiology Spectrum 5(4):FUNK-0047-2016. (Was also bound for publication in: The Fungal Kingdom, ed. N.A.R. Gow and J. Heitman. ASM: Washington D.C.).

Pringle A., M. Brenner, J. Fritz, M. Roper, A. Seminara. 2017. Reaching the wind: Boundary layer escape as a constraint on ascomycete spore shooting. In The Fungal Community: Its Organization and Role in the Ecosystem (Fourth Edition), ed. J. Dighton and J.F. White. Taylor & Francis: Oxford.

Roper M., A. Seminara, M.M. Bandi, A. Cobb, H.R. Dillard, A. Pringle. 2010. Dispersal of fungal spores on a cooperatively generated wind. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 41:17474-17479. -News & Views: Nature 467:669 -Editors’ Choice: Science 330:429 [download]

Pringle, A, SN Patek, M Fischer, J Stolze, NP Money. 2005. The captured launch of a ballistospore. Mycologia 97: 866-871 [download]