Mechanical soil disturbance as a determinant of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in semi-natural grassland

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mechanical soil disturbance as a determinant of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in semi-natural grassland

AU - Schnoor, Tim Krone

AU - Lekberg, Ylva

AU - Rosendahl, Søren

AU - Olsson, Pål Axel

PY - 2011/4

Y1 - 2011/4

N2 - While the effect of disturbance on overall abundance and community composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi has been researched in agricultural fields, less is known about the impact in semi-natural grasslands. We sampled two AM plant species, Festuca brevipila and Plantago lanceolata, from an ongoing grassland restoration experiment that contained replicated plowed and control plots. The AM fungal community in roots was determined using nested PCR and LSU rDNA primers. We identified 38 phylotypes within the Glomeromycota, of which 29 belonged to Glomus A, six to Glomus B, and three to Diversisporaceae. Only three phylotypes were closely related to known morphospecies. Soil disturbance significantly reduced phylotype richness and changed the AM fungal community composition. Most phylotypes, even closely related ones, showed little or no overlap in their distribution and occurred in either the control or disturbed plots. We found no evidence of host preference in this system, except for one phylotype that preferentially seemed to colonize Festuca. Our results show that disturbance imposed a stronger structuring force for AM fungal communities than did host plants in this semi-natural grassland.

AB - While the effect of disturbance on overall abundance and community composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi has been researched in agricultural fields, less is known about the impact in semi-natural grasslands. We sampled two AM plant species, Festuca brevipila and Plantago lanceolata, from an ongoing grassland restoration experiment that contained replicated plowed and control plots. The AM fungal community in roots was determined using nested PCR and LSU rDNA primers. We identified 38 phylotypes within the Glomeromycota, of which 29 belonged to Glomus A, six to Glomus B, and three to Diversisporaceae. Only three phylotypes were closely related to known morphospecies. Soil disturbance significantly reduced phylotype richness and changed the AM fungal community composition. Most phylotypes, even closely related ones, showed little or no overlap in their distribution and occurred in either the control or disturbed plots. We found no evidence of host preference in this system, except for one phylotype that preferentially seemed to colonize Festuca. Our results show that disturbance imposed a stronger structuring force for AM fungal communities than did host plants in this semi-natural grassland.

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Fungi

KW - Host Specificity

KW - Molecular Sequence Data

KW - Mycorrhizae

KW - Phylogeny

KW - Poaceae

KW - Soil

KW - Soil Microbiology

U2 - 10.1007/s00572-010-0325-3

DO - 10.1007/s00572-010-0325-3

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 20593293

SN - 0940-6360

VL - 21

SP - 211

EP - 220

JO - Mycorrhiza

JF - Mycorrhiza

IS - 3

ER -