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Short-term consequences of slash-and-burn practices on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi of a tropical dry forest

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Abstract

Rates of land conversion from forest to cultivated land by slash-and-burn practices are higher in tropical dry forest (TDF) than any other Neotropical forest type. This study examined the short-term consequences of the slash-and-burn process on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). We expected that slash-and-burn would reduce mycorrhizal colonization and propagules and change species richness and composition. Soil and root samples were taken from TDF control and pasture plots originated after slash-and-burn at four dates during the year of conversion to examine species composition, spore abundance, and infective propagules. Additionally, spore abundance and viability and viable intraradical colonization were measured twice during the second year after conversion. Forest and pasture plots maintained similar species richness and an overall 84% similarity during the first year after conversion. Infective propagules were reduced in pasture plots during the first year after slash-and-burn, whereas spore abundance and intraradical colonization remained similar in TDF and pasture plots both years of the study. Our results suggest, contrary to the expected, that forest conversion by means of slash-and-burn followed by cultivation resulted in few immediate changes in the AMF communities, likely because of the low heat conductivity of the soil and rapid combustion of plant residues.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Mr. Ramiro Peña at the Ejido San Mateo for the permission to work in his property and for his collaboration and facilitation to carry out the slash-and-burn field work. We thank the personnel at the Estación de Biología Chamela for the logistic support. M.A.F. acknowledges the support from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología CONACYT (Mexico) through a M.Sc. scholarship. This study was supported by the National Science Foundation (USA) NSF grant DEB-9118854.

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  1. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 27-3, Santa María de Guido, C.P. 58090, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    Mónica Aguilar-Fernández, Víctor J. Jaramillo & Mayra E. Gavito

  2. Hongos y Derivados, Acueducto Molino del Rey Manzana A Lote 20, San Juan Totoltepec, Naucalpan, State of Mexico, C.P. 53270, Mexico

    Lucía Varela-Fregoso

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  1. Mónica Aguilar-Fernández
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  2. Víctor J. Jaramillo
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  3. Lucía Varela-Fregoso
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  4. Mayra E. Gavito
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Correspondence to Mayra E. Gavito.

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Aguilar-Fernández, M., Jaramillo, V.J., Varela-Fregoso, L. et al. Short-term consequences of slash-and-burn practices on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi of a tropical dry forest. Mycorrhiza 19, 179–186 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-009-0229-2

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