Limitation of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal activity in Leucaena leucocephala by Ca insufficiency in an acid Mn-rich oxisol

Abstract

Glomus aggregatum and Leucaena leucocephala were interacted in an acid Mn-rich oxisol unamended or amended with lime [Ca(OH)2] or gypsum (CaSO4) at soil P concentrations considered optimal for mycorrhizal host growth and sufficient for mycorrhiza-free growth. At 0.02 mg P 1-1, both vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (VAMF) colonization and function were significantly curtailed if soil was not amended with gypsum or lime. The highest mycorrhizal effect was observed in the limed soil, followed by the soil treated with gypsum at the rate of 32 g Ca kg-1 soil. Higher concentrations of gypsum deleteriously affected VAMF infectivity and effectivity. The first increment of gypsum compensated completely for the VAMF colonization and for part of the mycorrhizal effect that was lost due to low pH. The superiority of the limed soil to that amended with gypsum apparently lies in the fact that Ca supply was assured in the former and also that the adverse effects of toxic constituents such as H+ and Mn2+ were eliminated. We were unable to separate the effect of Ca on VAMF from its effect on the host because a P concentration sufficient for mycorrhiza-free growth was not attained due to interaction of some of the P with Ca to form insoluble phosphate.