Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spatial variability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spores in two natural plant communities

  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Geostatistical techniques were used to assess the spatial patterns of spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in soils from two contrasting plant communities: a salt marsh containing only arbuscular mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants in a distinct clumped distribution pattern and a maquis with different types of mycorrhiza where most plants were relatively randomly distributed. Also evaluated was the relationship between the spatial distribution of spores and AM plant distribution and soil properties. A nested sampling scheme was applied in both sites with sample cores taken from nested grids. Spores of AMF and soil characteristics (organic matter and moisture) were quantified in each core, and core sample location was related to plant location. Semivariograms for spore density indicated strong spatial autocorrelation and a patchy distribution within both sites for all AM fungal genera found. However, the patch size differed between the two plant communities and AM fungal genera. In the salt marsh, AM fungal spore distribution was correlated with distance to AM plants and projected stand area of AM plants. In maquis, spatial AM fungal spore distribution was correlated with organic matter. These results suggest that spore distribution of AMF varied between the two plant communities according to plant distribution and soil properties.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson R C, Liberta A E, Dickman L A and Katz A J 1983 Spatial variation in vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza spore density. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 110, 519-525.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson R C, Liberta A E and Dickman L A 1984 Interaction of vascular plants and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi across a soil moisture-nutrient gradient. Oecologia 64, 111-117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boerner R E J, DeMars B G and Leicht P N 1996 Spatial patterns of mycorrhizal inffectiveness of soils along a sucessional chronosequence. Mycorrhiza 6, 79-90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burrough P A and McDonnell R 1998 Principles of Geographical Information Systems (Spatial Information Systems). Second edition. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caçador I 1994 Acumulação e retenção de metais pesados nos sapais do estuário do Tejo. PhD thesis. University of Lisbon, Portugal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho L M, Caçador I and Martins-Loução M A 2001 Temporal and spatial variation of arbuscular mycorrhizas in salt marsh plants of the Tagus estuary (Portugal). Mycorrhiza 11, 303-309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catarino F M, Correia O C and Correia A I 1982 Structure and dynamics of Serra da Arrábida mediterranean vegetation. Ecol. Medit. VIII (1/2), 202-222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clemente A S, Rego F and Correia O A 1996 Demographic patterns and productivity of post-fire regeneration in portuguese Mediterranean maquis. Int. J. Wildland Fire 6, 5-12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Correia O A 1988 Contribuição da fenologia e ecofisiologia em estudos de sucessão e dinâmica da vegetação Mediterrânica. PhD thesis. University of Lisbon, Portugal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniels B A and Skipper H A 1982 Methods for the recovery and quantitative estimation of propagules from soil. In Methods and Principles of Mycorrhizal Research. Ed. N C Schenck. pp. 29-35. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MI, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eom A-H, Hartnett D C and Wilson G W T 2000 Host plant species effects on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in tallgrass prairie. Oecologia 122, 435-444.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farley R A and Fitter A H 1999 Temporal and spatial variation in soil resources in a deciduous woodland. J. Ecol. 87, 688-696.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis R and Read D J 1994 The contributions of mycorrhizal fungi to the determination of plant community structure. Plant Soil 159, 11-25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friese C F and Koske R E 1991 The spatial dispersion of spores of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a sand dune: microscale patterns associated with the root architecture of American beachgrass. Mycol. Res. 95, 952-957.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart M M and Reader R J 2002 Taxonomic basis for variation in the colonization strategy of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. New Phytol. 153, 335-344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurlbert S H 1984 Pseudoreplication and the design of ecological field experiments. Ecol. Monogr. 54, 187-211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isaaks E H and Srivastava R M 1989 An Introduction to Applied Geostatistics. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson R B and Caldwell M M 1993a The scale of nutrient heterogeneity around individual plants and its quantification with geostatistics. Ecology 74, 612-614.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson R B and Caldwell M M 1993b Geostatistical patterns of soil heterogeneity around individual perennial plants. J. Ecol. 81, 683-692.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson N C, Zak D R, Tilman D and Pfleger F L 1991 Dynamics of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae during old field sucession. Oecologia 86, 349-358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson N C, Tilman D and Wedin D 1992 Plant and soil controls on mycorrhizal fungal communities. Ecology 73, 2034-2042.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keeley J E 1992 Demographic structure of California chaparral in the long-term absence of fire. J. Veg. Sci. 3, 79-90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klironomos J N 2002 Feedback with soil biota contributes to plant rarity and invasiveness in communities. Nature 417, 67-70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klironomos J N, Moutoglis P, Kendrick B and Widden P 1993 A comparison of spatial heterogeneity of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in two maple-forest soils. Can. J. Bot. 71, 1472-1480.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klironomos J N, Rillig M C and Allen M F 1999 Designing belowground field experiments with the help of semi-variance and power analyses. Appl. Soil Ecol. 12, 227-238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koske R E 1987 Distribution of VA mycorrhizal fungi along a latitudinal temperature gradient. Mycologia 79, 55-68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavorel S, Lebreton J D, Debussche M and Lepart J 1991 Nested spatial patterns in seed bank and vegetation of Mediterranean old-fields. J. Veg. Sci. 2, 367-376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte M L 1991 Heavy metals and arsenic in vegetation of salt marshes and floodplains. PhD thesis. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter W M, Robson A D and Abbott L K 1987 Field survey of the distribution of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in relation to soil pH. J. Appl. Ecol. 24, 659-662.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puppi G and Tartaglini N 1991 Mycorrhizal types in three Mediterranean communities affected by fire to different extents. Acta Oecol. 12, 295-304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Requena N, Jefries P and Barea J M 1996 Assessment of natural mycorrhizal potential in a desertified semiarid ecosystem. Appl. Environ. Ecosyst. 62, 842-847.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson G F, Huston M A, Evans F C and Tiedje J M 1988 Spatial variability in a successional plant community: patterns of nitrogen availability. Ecology 69, 1517-1524.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossi R E, Mulla D J, Journel A G and Franz E H 1992 Geostatistical tools for modeling and interpretating ecological spatial dependence. Ecol. Monogr. 62, 277-314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryel R J, Caldwell M M and Manwaring J H 1996 Temporal dynamics of soil spatial heterogeneity in sagebrush-wheatgrass steppe during a growing season. Plant Soil 184, 299-309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders I R and Fitter A H 1992 Evidence for diferential responses between host-fungus combination vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas from a grassland. Mycol. Res. 96, 415-419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders I R and Koide R T 1994 Nutrient acquisition and community in co-occuring mycotrophic and non-mycotrophic old-field. Funct. Ecol. 8, 77-84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schenck N C and Pérez Y 1990 Manual for the Identification of VA Mycorrhizal Fungi. Third edition. Synergistic Publications, Gainesville, FL, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith S E and Read D J 1997 Mycorrhizal Symbiosis. Second edition. Academic Press, London, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • St John T V, Coleman D C and Reid C P P 1983 Association of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphae with soil organic particles. Ecology 64, 957-959.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Heijden M G A, Klironomos J N, Ursic M, Moutoglis P, Streitwolf-Engel R, Boller T, Wiemken A and Sanders I R 1998 Mycorrhizal fungal diversity determines plant biodiversity, ecosystem variability and productivity. Nature 396, 69-72.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Heijden M G A and Sanders I R 2002 Mycorrhizal ecology: synthesis and perspectives. In Mycorrhizal Ecology. pp. 441-456. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Ecologia e Biologia Vegetal, Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, Bloco C2, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal

    Luís M. Carvalho, Patrícia M. Correia & M. Amélia Martins-Loução

  2. Department of Forest, Range and Wildlife Sciences and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322-5230, USA

    Ronald J. Ryel

Authors
  1. Luís M. Carvalho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patrícia M. Correia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ronald J. Ryel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. Amélia Martins-Loução
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Carvalho, L.M., Correia, P.M., Ryel, R.J. et al. Spatial variability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spores in two natural plant communities. Plant and Soil 251, 227–236 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023016317269

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023016317269

Search

Navigation