Presence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Fern from Tailing Deposition Area of Gold Mine in Timika, Indonesia

Abstract

Detection of the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on marginal land within degrading reclamation effort land is very important to support the success of such reclamation. The purpose of this study is to determine the presence of AMF in the root rhizosphere of fern plants Equisetum debile, Pteris radicans, and Nephrolepis hirsutula that grow in the tailing area of gold mine Timika. The study used a survey method to isolate AMF from the root rhizosphere of fern plants in the gold mine tailing deposition area of the Modified Ajkwa Deposition Area (ModADA) of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) in Mimika Regency, Papua, Indonesia. AMF infection was tested using a trypan blue staining method, while the calculation of the percentage of infection was carried out by a slide method. The presence of AMF spores was detected by a wet sieving method. The results of the study showed that there were AMFs in the root rhizosphere of the three types of fern. However, based on the observation of infection of the plant root system, there were only P. radicans indicating to interact with AMF, while E. debile and N. hirsutula were not associated with AMF. There were 54. 44% of infection at the root rhizosphere found in P. radicans and number of spores ranged from 8 to 12 per 10 g of soil samples. Although there were no infection of AMF on the root rhizosphere of E. debile and N. hirsutula, however there were 4.33 and 11 spores per 10 g of soil samples of both plant rhizosphere respectively. Based on morphology, it can be identified that the types of AMF were member of genus Scutelospora, Glomus, Claroideoglomus, and Acaulospora.