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Abstract
There is a scarcity of published information on the abundance and richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in different natural and semi-natural land use types in Sri Lanka. The Upper Hantana (UH) area, which comprises land use types with different histories, was selected to fulfill this knowledge gap. A study was carried out to investigate the abundance and richness of AMF in selected land use types, including restored pine stand (REP), degraded grassland (DEG), Paraserianthes stand (PST) and natural forest patch (NFP) at Upper Hantana in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, were investigated. The highest AMF spore abundance was observed in the NFP. However, the AMF spore richness was higher in both NFP and REP than in DEG and PST. At NFP, the medium-sized spores dominate the AMF spore population. Furthermore, NFP showed the least evenness in AMF distribution compared to other land use types. Glomus was the most abundant genus in all selected land use types. Acaulospora was observed only in DEG and PST. The colonization potential of AMF varies highly between species and selected land use types with no clear relationship between AMF abundance and root colonization potential. The results speculate that AMF spore abundance is determined by the composition and diversity of the vegetation. The results also revealed that the AMF richness at REP was similar to that of NFP, indicating a positive impact on the below-ground biota within a relatively short period following restoration. Ceylon Journal of Science (Bio. Sci.) 44 (1) : 25-34, 2015
Highlights
Mycorrhizae are highly evolved, mutualistic associations between a group of fungi and plant roots
The natural forest patch (NFP) showed the lowest soil pH compared to other landuse types, restored pine stand (REP), degraded grassland (DEG) and Paraserianthes stand (PST)
Spore abundance and richness The highest total number of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) spores were recorded from soil samples taken from the natural forest patch (NFP) while the lowest was recorded from the Paraserianthes stand (PST) (Table 3; 8,234 and 1,573 respectively)
Summary
Mycorrhizae are highly evolved, mutualistic associations between a group of fungi and plant roots. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) reported to have a widespread occurrence in the plant kingdom with many benefits to plant growth (Janos 1980; Wolfe and Klinomus 2005; Smith and Read 2008; Lee et al, 2013). In this highly specialized relationship, the host receives mineral nutrients while the fungus obtains photosynthate s(Harley and Smith 1983; Harley 1989). The knowledge on the diversity of AMF and their colonization potentials are considered important information to assess the health of an ecosystem and allows comparisons between different ecosystems (Jeffries et al, 2003; Lee et al, 2013)
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