Ron Deckert

Educational Background

B.Sc. Plant Biology, University of Guelph (Guelph, Ontario Canada), 1995

Ph.D. Botany, University of Guelph, 2000

Postdoctoral research: Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ

Research Interests

My research focuses on the interaction of symbiotic fungi with the anatomy and ecology of their plant and algal hosts, with an emphasis on mutualistic symbioses found in Pinus and Populus spp. and the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum.  Currently, I study two main guilds of fungal symbionts: mycorrhizal fungi and endophytes of aerial plant tissues. 

Fungal endophyte in white pine needle.

Teaching

My position in the Department of Botany at Weber State is plant anatomist/ mycologist.  I teach Plant Biology, Plants in Human Affairs, Evolutionary Survey of Plants, Plant Anatomy and Morphology, Mycology, and Plant Evolution.  I am also available as a mentor for undergraduate research students and students who wish to do specialized readings. 

A clearing of Polysiphonia, a red alga.

Stomatal Fungi

Publications

Xu, H., Deckert, R.J., and D.J. Garbary.  Ascophyllum and its symbionts.  X.  Ultrastructure of the interaction between A. nodosum (Phaeophyceae) and Mycophycias ascophylli (Ascomycetes).  in press, Canadian Journal of Botany. 

Hart, S.C., Gehring, C.A., Selmants, P.C., and R.J. Deckert. 2006.  Carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic patterns in macrofungal sporocarps and trees in semiarid forests of the south-western USA.  Functional Ecology:  20: 42-51

Deckert, R.J., and D.J. Garbary.  2005.  Ascophyllum and its symbionts.  VIII. Interactions among Ascophyllum nodosum (Phaeophyceae), Mycophycias ascophylli (Ascomycetes) and Elachista fucicola (Phaeophyceae).  Algae: 20: 363-368

 Garbary, D.J., Deckert, R.J., and C.B. Hubbard.  2005.  Ascophyllum and its symbionts.  VII. Three-way interactions among Ascophyllum nodosum (Phaeophyceae), Mycophycias ascophylli (Ascomycetes) and Vertebrata lanosa (Rhodophyta).  Algae 20: 353-361

 Deckert, R.J. and D.J. Garbary.  2005.  Ascophyllum and its symbionts.  VI. Microscopic characterization of the Ascophyllum nodosum    (Phaeophyceae), Mycophycias ascophylli (Ascomycetes) symbiotum.    Algae 20: 225-232.

Bailey, J.K., Deckert, R., Schweitzer, J.A., Rehill, B.J., Lindroth, R.L., Gehring, C. and T.G. Whitham.   2005.  Host plant genetics affect hidden ecological players: links among Populus, condensed tannins, and fungal endophyte infection.  Canadian Journal of Botany 83: 356-361

Sherwood, A.R. and Deckert, R.J. 2004.  Epilithic diatoms of the stream outflow of Williams Lake, Halifax, Nova Scotia, with new records for the province.  Proceedings of the Nova Scotia Institute of Science 42: 225-226.

Swaty, R.L., R. J. Deckert, T.G. Whitham and C.A. Gehring.  2004. Ectomycorrhizal abundance and community composition shifts with drought: predictions from tree rings. Ecology 85: 1072-1084

 Deckert, R.J., Hsiang, T. and R.L. Peterson. 2002. Genetic relationships of endophytic Lophodermium nitens isolates from needles of Pinus strobus. Mycological Research 106: 305-313. 

Deckert, R.J., Melville, L.H. and R.L. Peterson. 2001. Structural features of a Lophodermium endophyte during the cryptic life-cycle phase in the foliage of Pinus strobus. Mycological Research 105: 991-997.

Deckert, R.J., Melville, L.H., and R.L. Peterson. 2001. Epistomatal chambers in the needles of Pinus strobus L. function as microhabitat for specialized fungi. International Journal of Plant Sciences 162: 181-189.

Garbary, D. J. & Deckert, R. J. 2001 Three part harmony - Ascophyllum and its symbionts. In: Cellular Origin and Life in Extreme Habitats, Vol. 4 Symbiosis: mechanisms and model systems. (J. Seckback, ed.) 311-321.  Kluwer, Dordrecht. 808 pp.

 Deckert, R.J. and R.L. Peterson. 2000. Distribution of foliar fungal endophytes of Pinus strobus between and within host trees. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 30: 1436-1442.

 Links:

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