Question

You are a forester charged with increasing productivity in a South American forest newly planted with pines from Oregon. You believe that the southern forest lacks the fungal diversity needed by the North American pines and that this lack of fungi is affecting the pines' productivity, but you have no evidence to support your ideas. Which of the following would be the best approach to assess the diversity of fungi likely contributing to tree productivity in the Oregon forest?

a. Do direct sequencing on representative soil samples from across the forest.
b. Expose the trees to radiolabeled CO2and then collect the soil samples with the greatest radioactivity and do direct sequencing.
c. Collect all the fruiting structures (mushrooms, morels, etc.) found above ground.
d. Count all the plant species and multiply by six, as David Hawksworth did when determining the ratio of fungal to plant species in England.

Answer 1

The correct answer is : option A.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this case an individual is experiencing low pines productivity. According to him that lack of fungal diversity affects the productivity of pines in southern forests.

To test this hypothesis or idea the best approach among the given option is to run a direct sequencing on soil samples from all across the forest. By sequencing representative soil samples for the will help in assessing the fungal diversity in particular soil sample and on that basis one can find the relation with productivity of pines.

Thus, the correct answer is : option A.