Abstract
Understanding the dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in response to land use change is important for the restoration of degraded forests. Here, we investigated the AMF community composition in the roots of Pterocarpus tinctorius sampled from agricultural and forest fallow soils rich in aluminum and iron. By sequencing the large subunit region of the rRNA gene, we identified a total of 30 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in 33 root samples. These OTUs belonged to the genera Rhizophagus, Dominikia, Glomus, Sclerocystis, and Scutellospora. The majority of these OTUs did not closely match any known AMF species. We found that AMF species richness was significantly influenced by soil properties and overall tree density. Acidic soils with high levels of aluminum and iron had a low mean AMF species richness of 3.2. Indicator species analyses revealed several AMF OTUs associated with base saturation (4 OTUs), high aluminum (3 OTUs), and iron (2 OTUs). OTUs positively correlated with acidity (1 OTU), iron, and available phosphorus (2 OTUs) were assigned to the genus Rhizophagus, suggesting their tolerance to aluminum and iron. The results highlight the potential of leguminous trees in tropical dry forests as a reservoir of unknown AMF species. The baseline data obtained in this study opens new avenues for future studies, including the use of indigenous AMF-based biofertilizers to implement ecological revegetation strategies and improve land use.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the forest engineers Eric Lowele and Christian Kanunda for their assistance during the floristic inventory, sample collection, and preparation. We thank Stéphane Daigle, research professional in the Centre d’Étude de la Forêt (CEF) for his help with the statistical analyses. Additionally, we thank Marie-Ève Beaulieu for her help with the molecular and bioinformatics analyses. An NSERC Discovery Grant (DPK) is acknowledged. W.F.J. Parsons corrected the English.
Funding
This study was funded by a doctoral fellowship from the Réseau des Institutions de Formation Forestière et Environnementale d’Afrique Centrale (RIFFEAC), through its project to support the Expanded Program of Training in Natural Resource Management in the Congo Basin (PEFOGRN-BC) funded by the Congo Basin Forest Fund, managed by the African Development Bank. This work also received an NSERC Discovery Grant (DPK).
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JMKK and DKP conceived and designed the experiments. JMKK performed all the experiments and analyses. JMKK and GS wrote the first draft of the manuscript. FS co-supervised JMKK and rewrote the subsequent version of the manuscripts with GS. DKP was responsible for supervision and project management, as well as funding and resource acquisition. All authors provided critical input to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.
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Kaumbu, JM.K., Sene, G., Stefani, F. et al. Characterization of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community associated with rosewood in threatened Miombo forests. Mycorrhiza 33, 277–288 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-023-01115-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-023-01115-7