HIGH-LATITUDE FUNGAL PALYNOLOGY OF COALS AND INTERSEAM ROCKS LEADING TO THE MIOCENE CLIMATE OPTIMUM WARMING EVENT, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

Fungi are necessary elements in all ecosystems because of their vital role in terrestrial carbon cycling, soil formation, and plant ecology. Thus, it is critical to understand how fungal assemblages may change with global warming. Fungal assemblage shifts, associated with climate change have been documented in the northern high latitudes, but prior to this study, we did not know if this also occurred in southern high latitudes. The analysis of fungal assemblages from lower-middle Miocene sediments from Victoria, Australia is key to resolving this question. The sediments studied here, which include the M1B coal, Yallourn Interseam, and Yallourn coal, were deposited during the lead-up to and through the Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO; 18-13 Ma). Preliminary results indicate that the fungal assemblages of M1B and Yallourn coals are highly diverse. The Yallourn Interseam, between the two coals, is less diverse. While the assemblages differ, preliminary reconstructions of fungal assemblage-indicated Köppen-Geiger climate zones suggest that fungal communities are changing in relation to climate change.