Species-Rich but Distinct Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Communities in Reforestation Plots on Degraded Pastures and in Neighboring Pristine Tropical Mountain Rain Forest

background

This study compares the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) of 4 native species saplings growing in three types of fire-degraded pasture (recently abandoned, bracken covered, and shrub covered pasture) to the AMF richness and composition of 30 adult tree species in neighboring primary forest.

Research Goals & Methods

The authors sequenced a segment of fungal 18S rDNA from the mycorrhizas; in total, 193 glomeromycotan sequences were analyzed, with 130 of them being published for the first time.

Conclusions & Takeaways

In both the degraded pasture and the primary forest, members of Glomeraceae, Acaulosporaceae, Gigasporaceae and Archaeosporales were found. The Glomus group A sequences were by far the most prevalent and diverse; however, while the AMF richness did not vary between the pasture and the primary forest plots, the composition was distinct between the two sites. AMF sequences were found colonizing seedlings in the pasture that were not found in the primary forest. No differences in sequence composition were detected between the three pasture types.