The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculation at a roadside prairie restoration site

White, Jennifer A.; Tallaksen, Joel; Charvat, Iris

doi:10.1080/15572536.2008.11832494

Cited by 36 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…However, there was no effect of age on the colonization rate or growth in a later successional species, little bluestem (schizachyrium scoparium). Our results may be due to the fact that while phosphate levels on our restoration sites were higher than those on remnants, they were still much lower than those found by others where mycorrhizae are either inhibited or fail to have an effect on plant performance (White et al 2008). Our data agree with other findings that show the rate of mycorrhizal colonization is not necessarily a good predictor of plant growth (Smith et al 1998, Smith et al 2004, Busby et al 2011.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Biotic and Abiotic Effects of Remnant and Restoration Soils on the Performance of Tallgrass Prairie Species

Faber¹,

Markham²

2012

Ecological Restoration

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Interactions between plants and soil microbes are increasingly recognized as an important component in the functioning of ecosystems. Because these interactions affect and are affected by soil abiotic conditions, restoration efforts must consider the interactions between the plant community, the soil community, and the soil abiotic conditions. We sampled soil from 20 independently restored tallgrass prairies and 8 natural prairie remnants in southern Manitoba. Soils from the restored sites had 4.5 times higher phosphate levels than soils from the remnants. In whole soil assays, big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii ) and Culver's root (Veronicastrum virginicum) had significantly greater growth in soil from the remnant sites. A second growth assay using sterile and inoculated soil from a subset of these sites showed that while big bluestem benefited from soil biota on both remnants and restored sites, the effect was twice as strong on the remnant sites. Our results suggest that plants on restored prairies are less reliant on soil microbes due to the higher fertility found within their soils. Our data suggests that like other ecosystems, residual high fertility in tallgrass prairies may facilitate invasion by non-native plants.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Biotic and Abiotic Effects of Remnant and Restoration Soils on the Performance of Tallgrass Prairie Species

Faber¹,

Markham²

2012

Ecological Restoration

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“…White et al (2008) reported that AMF inoculation at their Minnesota (USA) grassland restoration did not increase biomass production, and they attributed the lack of effect to adequate initial propagule densities at their latesuccession stage restoration. However, landscapes available for restorations are frequently highly disturbed and may have reduced propagule numbers and AMF infectivity (Smith et al 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Mycorrhizal suppression alters plant productivity and forb establishment in a grass-dominated prairie restoration

2011

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A fundamental goal of restoration is the re-establishment of plant diversity representative of native vegetation. However, many prairie restorations or Conservation Reserve Program sites have been seeded with warm-season grasses, leading to grassdominated, low-diversity restorations not representative of native grasslands. These dominant grasses are strongly mycotrophic, while many subordinate forb species appear to be less dependent on mycorrhizal symbiosis. Therefore, manipulating arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may be useful in promoting establishment and growth of forb species in grassdominated prairie restorations. To assess the potential role of mycorrhizae in affecting the productivity and community composition of restored tallgrass prairie, we conducted a 4-year field experiment on an 8-yearold grassland restoration at the Konza Prairie in northeastern Kansas, USA. At the initiation of our study, seeds of 12 forb species varying in degree of mycorrhizal dependence were added to established grass-dominated plots. Replicate plots were treated biweekly with a soil drench of fungicide (Topsin-M Ò ) over four growing seasons and compared to nontreated control plots to assess the role of AMF in affecting plant species composition, productivity, leaf tissue quality, and diversity in restored tallgrass prairie. Topsin applications successfully reduced mycorrhizal colonization of grass roots to approximately 60-80% relative to roots in control plots. Four years of mycorrhizal suppression reduced productivity of the dominant grasses and increased plant species richness and diversity. These results highlight the importance of mycorrhizae as mediators of plant productivity and community dynamics in restored tallgrass prairie and indicate that temporarily suppressing AMF decreases productivity of the dominant C4 grasses and allows for establishment of seeded forb species.

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“…In a comparison of post-agricultural fields and adjacent unplowed prairie, Bever et al (2003) reported a shift in AM fungal species composition that favored weedy fungal species in the post-agricultural sites and hypothesized that this shift in fungal species may impede restoration and establishment of native grasses of the postagricultural lands. The applications of native prairie soil have been shown to increase the establishment success of native plant species, at least in part, due to restoration of the native AM fungal communities (Smith et al 1998;White et al 2008;Bever et al 2009). If Bothriochloa alters the AM fungal communities, providing a competitive advantage and inhibiting the obligate symbiosis of the native grasses, restoring AM fungal communities through additions of native prairie inoculum that promote the success of native species may be an important management consideration in areas where Bothriochloa is eradicated and the restoration of native species is in progress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Invasive warm-season grasses reduce mycorrhizal root colonization and biomass production of native prairie grasses

2011

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Soil organisms play important roles in regulating ecosystem-level processes and the association of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi with a plant species can be a central force shaping plant species' ecology. Understanding how mycorrhizal associations are affected by plant invasions may be a critical aspect of the conservation and restoration of native ecosystems. We examined the competitive ability of old world bluestem, a non-native grass (Caucasian bluestem [Bothriochloa bladhii]), and the influence of B. bladhii competition on AM root colonization of native warm-season prairie grasses (Andropogon gerardii or Schizachyrium scoparium), using a substitutive design greenhouse competition experiment. Competition by the non-native resulted in significantly reduced biomass production and AM colonization of the native grasses. To assess plant-soil feedbacks of B. bladhii and Bothriochloa ischaemum, we conducted a second greenhouse study which examined soil alterations indirectly by assessing biomass production and AM colonization of native warm-season grasses planted into soil collected beneath Bothriochloa spp. This study was conducted using soil from four replicate prairie sites throughout Kansas and Oklahoma, USA. Our results indicate that a major mechanism in plant growth suppression following invasion by Bothriochloa spp. is the alteration in soil microbial communities. Plant growth was tightly correlated with AM root colonization demonstrating that mycorrhizae play an important role in the invasion of these systems by Bothriochloa spp. and indicating that the restoration of native AM fungal communities may be a fundamental consideration for the successful establishment of native grasses into invaded sites.

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The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculation at a roadside prairie restoration site

Cited by 36 publications

References 28 publications

Biotic and Abiotic Effects of Remnant and Restoration Soils on the Performance of Tallgrass Prairie Species

Biotic and Abiotic Effects of Remnant and Restoration Soils on the Performance of Tallgrass Prairie Species

Mycorrhizal suppression alters plant productivity and forb establishment in a grass-dominated prairie restoration

Invasive warm-season grasses reduce mycorrhizal root colonization and biomass production of native prairie grasses

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