The density and diversity of Arbuscular mycorrhizal spores on land covers with different tree canopy densities at the UNS educational forests

Abstract

Mycorrhiza is a ‘super-organism,’ potential to support plants facing increment temperatures due to more open tree canopy cover. This research aimed to study how three different land covers affect the abundance and diversity of mycorrhiza spores in the UNS educational forests. The research was descriptive-explorative with a survey approach on three land covers with different canopy densities, i.e.: (1) mahogany, (2) pine, and (3) pine replanting, with a canopy cover of 95.56%, 80.93%, and 16.50%, respectively. Soil samples were taken by purposive random sampling at several points at a soil depth of 0-30 cm in a 200 m2 transect, then composited. Repeated each land cover was four times. The results showed that land cover with a more open canopy had a higher density of mycorrhiza spores than a dense canopy. The spores’ density on the land cover of Pine replanting> Pine> Mahogany was 865, 761, and 608 spores/100 g of soil, with a diversity index (H’) 1.00; 0.63; and 0.88, respectively. The types of spores found were Gigaspora sp., Glomus sp., and Archaeospora sp. Mycorrhizal spore density was related to soil temperature (r = 0.56*) and C-organic (r = - 0.68**). Mycorrhizae provide new hope to support plant tolerance facing higher temperatures due to climate changes at the UNS educational forests.