Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses are an attractive means of improving the efficiency of soil phosphorus (P) that difficult to be used by plants and may provide a sustainable way of maintaining high yields while reducing P applications. However, quantifying the contribution of indigenous AM fungi on phosphorus uptake and yields of maize (Zea mays L.) under field conditions is not particularly clear. Mesh-barrier compartments were applied to monitor the distribution of hyphal P uptake throughout the experimental period under different planting densities and soil depths, over two consecutive years. AM symbioses enhanced plant P-acquisition efficiency, especially during the silking stage, and hyphae of AM fungi was assessed to contribution 19.4% at most to total available P content of soil. Moreover, the pattern of AM depletion of soil P generally matched shoot nutrient demand under the high planting density, which resulted in significantly increased yield in 2014. Although the hyphal length density was significantly decreased with soil depth, AM fungi still had high potential for P supply in deeper soil. It demonstrates the great potential of indigenous AM fungi to maize productivity in the high-yield area of China, and it would further provide the possibility of elimination P fertilizer applications to maintain high yields.
Highlights
High-density planting systems represent one of the most efficient ways of achieving high maize productivity, and is widely applied globally, at the expense of high input of resources, such as chemical fertilizer
We are wondering that how the mycorrhizal pathway responds to adequate carbon sources, and the contribution of indigenous Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to P acquisition in high-density planting systems under in situ field conditions in the black soil region of China remains unclear
Hyphal length density per unit area was found to increase in association with the growth of maize slightly, and AM colonization simultaneously increased until the R1 stage, except for individual samples
Summary
High-density planting systems (more than 70,000 plants ha−1) represent one of the most efficient ways of achieving high maize productivity, and is widely applied globally, at the expense of high input of resources, such as chemical fertilizer. To enhance the efficient use of P, reduce the environmental damage associated with P fertilizer applications, and yet maintain future food security, one option for sustainable P management is to improve the utilization of the large reserve of residual P in soils left behind by the long-term overapplication of P fertilizer in cultivated a reas[5]. To understand how AM fungi are associated with P nutrition in well-fertilized, high-density planting systems is a first step toward assessing whether P applications could be reduced to improve the management of intensive cropping systems. Most of these communities were studied in inoculated ecosystems or in pots under experimental conditions[17,18,19]. The primary objective of this work was to measure AM hyphal P uptake in the field by a modified compartment system, estimate the potential contribution of the indigenous AM fungi to P uptake of maize plants to enhance the final product in the high-yield area of China under high planting density mode
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