President's Message

Readers have certainly noticed that this is not the usual attractive, 
well-crafted <i>Mycorizon</i> to which they have become accustomed. It 
looks more like the paleolithic scratchings which this writer used to 
circulate during the last millenium.  Ann, our intrepid editor, informed me 
that she would not be able to put together the newsletter this month. To 
this I responded that she certainly deserved a month off and that I was up 
to the task.  I also stated that I would try not to embarrass her to badly. 
At this point I publicly apologize for not keeping my word.

I opened up the desktop publishing software she uses and realized that I 
was at the absolute bottom of the learning curve. 

Nominations Already?
It is the president's duty to each year appoint a chairperson for the 
nominating committee. An attempt to do this seems to usually happen at the 
October meeting; the election of officers is in November. This year I want 
to establish a nominating committee much sooner. I expect that it will be a 
challenge to solicit officer candidates for 2007, and I think it wise to 
provide more time for this pursuit. If any members want to fill a small yet 
important role in the club, please volunteer for this committee.



No Regular Meeting in July
Traditionally for July we have a summer potluck instead of the regular
meeting. There are a handful of generous members who have hosted this (and
the December) gatherings each year. I will not list names, but will say to
those select few that we are very grateful for your hospitality. We will 
try at the upcoming meeting to determine a date and place for this year's summer 
potluck. If any members--traditional host or otherwise--would like to 
volunteer for this event, I would like to hear from you at the 
meeting or before.

September Meeting?
The September meeting is scheduled for Monday the 4th. This is eight days 
after the end of our Foray and happens also to be Labor Day. My hunch is 
that very few members will want to meet that day and my inclination is to 
cancel or reschedule the meeting. We will discuss this at the upcoming 
meeting and announce the plan in the next newsletter.


June Program presented by Andrea Porras-Alfaro:

<i>Nitrogen enrichment effect on endophytic and soil fungal communities in 
a 
semi-arid grassland</i><br>



<!-- Summary -->

&nbsp; Semi-arid and arid grasslands constitute approximately one third of 
the 
earth's terrestrial ecosystems. As is the case with other ecosystems, they 
can be subjected to dramatic increases in nitrogen deposition due to 
anthropogenic activities. Microbial diversity in arid and semi-arid 
grasslands is practically unknown, and the characteristic micro-topography 
(e.g., tussocks and cyanobacterial-crust soil communities) makes these 
systems ideal to study microbial distribution patterns. I am studying the 
effect of nitrogen deposition on fungal communities in a semi-arid 
grassland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR), New Mexico. To 
evaluate the effect of nitrogen deposition, an extensive survey of the 
diversity and distribution patterns (temporal and spatial) of endophytic 
and soil fungal communities has been conducted using a sequence-based 
approach. 





Volunteerism



Meeting Agenda
* Program
* July Potluck
* Foray
* 


David Wallis
(for Jun'06 Mycorizon)




Meetings
June
August (pre-foray)
October (nominating committee deadline)