Ectomycorrhizal Influence on Particle Size, Surface Structure, Mineral Crystallinity, Functional Groups, and Elemental Composition of Soil Colloids from Different Soil Origins

Yanhong Li,Wenjie Wang,Yuangang Zu,Huimei Wang,Lei Yang

doi:10.1155/2013/698752

Abstract

Limited data are available on the ectomycorrhizae-induced changes in surface structure and composition of soil colloids, the most active portion in soil matrix, although such data may benefit the understanding of mycorrhizal-aided soil improvements. By using ectomycorrhizae (Gomphidius viscidus) and soil colloids from dark brown forest soil (a good loam) and saline-alkali soil (heavily degraded soil), we tried to approach the changes here. For the good loam either from the surface or deep soils, the fungus treatment induced physical absorption of covering materials on colloid surface with nonsignificant increases in soil particle size (P > 0.05). These increased the amount of variable functional groups (O–H stretching and bending, C–H stretching, C=O stretching, etc.) by 3–26% and the crystallinity of variable soil minerals (kaolinite, hydromica, and quartz) by 40–300%. However, the fungus treatment of saline-alkali soil obviously differed from the dark brown forest soil. There were 12–35% decreases in most functional groups, 15–55% decreases in crystallinity of most soil minerals but general increases in their grain size, and significant increases in soil particle size (P < 0.05). These different responses sharply decreased element ratios (C : O, C : N, and C : Si) in soil colloids from saline-alkali soil, moving them close to those of the good loam of dark brown forest soil.

Highlights

At the global scale, soil degradation, including soil erosion, is a potential threat to food security, and phytorehabilitation measures for controlling soil degradation are a popular and urgent topic of research [1, 2]
The addition of the fungus extract to soil colloids from the dark brown forest soil slightly reduced the amount of stretching of the COO− and carbonate functional groups but increased O–H bending, increased stretching in most of the studied functional groups, including C–H, Si–O–Si, and O–H, and slightly increased (5%) C=O stretching (Figure 5(a))
In the case of soil colloids from the surface layer of dark brown forest soil, the addition of the fungus extract induced

Summary

Introduction

Soil degradation, including soil erosion, is a potential threat to food security, and phytorehabilitation measures for controlling soil degradation are a popular and urgent topic of research [1, 2]. Recent studies have been performed on the identification of ECM fungi [15,16,17,18], interactions among various fungi and their effects on soil pollution rehabilitation [17, 19], and the underlying genetic basis for ECM functions [20,21,22]. These studies have provided a sound basis for understanding the mechanisms of the interaction between ECM fungi and various plants. The rarity of studies on the interaction between soil particles and ECM fungi hinders a full understanding of the function of fungi in soil health maintenance and soil physical texture formation

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion