Application. Casuarina equisetifolia L. is a tropical woody dicotyledonous tree species extensively used for fuel, land reclamation, erosion control, afforestation and waste land development in many tropical countries. One of the limiting factors in the use of this species is that it grows slowly in the nursery and in the initial stages of establishment. The present study showed that the growth of Casuarina equisefifolia can be stimulated through inoculation with efficient VAM fungi. Inoculation with efficient VAM fungi will result in healthy and vigorously growing seedlings which will establish better when planted in the field site.Abstract. An investigation was carried out to screen and select efficient vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi for inoculating the forest tree species, Casuarina equisetifolia. The seedlings were inoculated with 10 different VAM fungi, obtained from various sources. Inoculated seedlings generally had greater plant height, stem girth, biomass and P content than uninoculated plants. They also had more mycorrhizal root colonization and spore numbers in root zone soil. C. equisetifolia seedlings responded best (in biomass) to inoculation with Glomus mosseae (Nicolson and Gerdemann) Gerdemann and Trappe, closely followed by Acaulospora laevis Gerdemann and Trappe and G. fasciculatum (Thaxter Sensu Gerdemann) Gerdemann and Trappe; all the three being statistically on par with each other.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract