Soil compaction and arbuscular mycorrhizae affect seedling growth of three grasses

Abstract

Soil compaction is a limitation to establishment of native forest species on reclaimed surfacemined lands in Appalachia. Previously, non-native forage species such as tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort., nom. cons.) have been planted because they easily established on reclaimed mine soil. There is now interest in establishing robust native prairie species to enhance biodiversity and provide greater potential for root activity in the compacted soil. We conducted a 10-week glasshouse study comparing growth of "Pete" eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides L.), "Bison" big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), and "Jesup MaxQ" tall fescue at soil bulk densities (BD) of 1.0, 1.3, and 1.5 g·cm −3 . We also examined effects of arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on plant growth in relation to compaction. Sources of AMF were a reclaimed surface coal mine soil and a native tallgrass prairie soil. Shoot and root biomass of tall fescue and big bluestem were reduced at 1.5 BD while eastern gamagrass growth was not affected. Growth of big bluestem and eastern gamagrass was greater with AMF than without, but similar between AMF sources. Tall fescue growth was not enhanced by AMF. Overall, tall fescue biomass was 3 times greater than eastern gamagrass and 6 times greater than big bluestem when comparing only AMF-colonized grasses. Eastern gamagrass and big bluestem are both slower to establish than tall fescue. Eastern gamagrass appears to be more tolerant of compaction, while big bluestem appears somewhat less tolerant.Experimental design was a randomized complete M. Thorne et al.

A friendly-environmental strategy: application of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to ornamental plants for plant growth and garden landscape

“…Similarly, the most significant effect of AMF on ornamental grasses is to increase the biomass of shoot and root and the root activity for promoting density and coverage of lawn (Watts-Williams et al, 2019). However, there was no effect on plant height in mycorrhizal tall fescue, while plant height of both eastern gamagrass and big bluestem was positively increased in mycorrhizal plants ( Thorne et al, 2013), suggesting that the AMF effect is dependent on host and AMF species. Therefore, when AMF are applied to any ornamental plant, efficient screening of mycorrhizal fungi is required.…”

Sand mining disturbances and their effects on the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a riparian forest of Iran

“…Furthermore, it should be reiterated that because fungi are able to adapt to local habitats and also because they are important for biodiversity conservation, AMF species should be carefully identified for each specific region (Symanczik et al, 2014). Unlike other studies reporting that soil compaction did not affect AMF (Miransari, 2013;Thorne et al, 2013), the present study demonstrated that sand mining and truck movement did negatively affect AMF diversity and SD through reducing fine roots (Waltert et al, 2002). As shown earlier, sand mining caused approximately 24.4% and 10.8% reductions in SD in P. euphratica and T. arceuthoides, respectively.…”

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the biomass and nutrition of Urochloa decumbens at different soil densities

“…The low accumulation of shoot dry biomass under conditions of high soil compaction has also been reported for rice (Oryza sativa L.) (Medeiros et al, 2005) and U. brizantha (Lima et al, 2015), which is in alignment with the results of the present study. Thorne et al (2013) the performance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in three grass species under different compaction degrees and found significant effects on biomass accumulation only for the root system.…”

“…Both micro-and macronutrients showed lower contents in the shoot as the soil density increased fungi promoted an increase of 50.3% in mycorrhizal colonization, which justifies the greater root biomass (dry matter weight) in the treatments with inoculation. Thorne et al (2013) also found no effect of mycorrhizal colonization on soil compaction, but observed 70% colonization in the treatments with AMF inoculation.…”