Invited Presentation: Ice nucleation properties of fungal spores

Recent measurements show that biological particles may be an important class of ice nuclei in the atmosphere. Types of biological particles that may be good ice nuclei include bacteria, pollen and fungal spores. We studied the freezing of water droplets containing fungal spores from a variety of fungal species, including 3 from the phylum Ascomycota and 14 from the phylum Basidiomycota. On average fungal spores from the phylum Basidiomycota were found to be better ice nuclei than fungal spores from the phylum Ascomycota. The results from these studies will be presented and the implications discussed.