The last lecture of the FCBG 2025/6 series will take place on Thursday 21st May at 7.30pm in the Zoology Lecture Theatre, Zoology Building, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, AB24 2TZ.

The lecture will be given by Dr Andy Taylor of the James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen and will be entitled: ‘The importance of fungi for healthy plants’. This lecture will also form part of the local 2026 Fascination of Plants week programme and will be open for the general public to attend.

The lecture will explain that fungi are essential but often overlooked components of all terrestrial ecosystems. From the very first colonisation of land by rooted plants, fungi have been critically involved in nutrient acquisition and water uptake by plants. The intimate interactions between two completely different kingdoms of biodiversity have shaped our world and the ecosystems around us for the past 420 million years. This talk will explore some of these interactions and their consequences for plants and all terrestrial biodiversity, including our gardens.

Andy is an ecosystem ecologist interested in the interactions between plants and soil biodiversity, in particular the roles of fungi in ecosystems. He has worked in various ecosystems across the planet, from lowland tropical rainforests to high alpine and tundra habitats. Current projects include the first survey of Scottish alpine soils biodiversity which involves citizen science volunteers collecting samples from all the Munros in Scotland and then identifying the soil biodiversity they contain using DNA barcodes.