Mycorrhiza

, Volume 16, Issue 3, pp 151–157 | Cite as

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with sedges on the Tibetan plateau

  • J. P. Gai
  • X. B. Cai
  • G. Feng
  • P. Christie
  • X. L. Li
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) status of nine dominant sedge species and the diversity of AM fungi in Tibetan grassland were surveyed in the autumn of 2003 and 2004. Most of the sedge species and ecotypes examined were mycorrhizal, but Carex moorcroftii and Kobresia pusilla were of doubtful AM status, and Kobresia humilis was facultatively mycorrhizal. This is the first report of the mycorrhizal status of eight of the nine sedge species examined. Intraradical vesicles and aseptate hyphae were the structures most frequently observed. Appressoria, coils, and arbuscules were found in the roots of a few sedge species. A strong negative correlation was found between soil organic matter content and the extent of mycorrhizal colonization. Using trap cultures, 26 species of AM fungi belonging to six genera, Glomus, Acaulospora, Paraglomus, Archaeospora, Pacispora, and Scutellospora, were isolated from the soil samples collected. The frequency of occurrence of different taxa of AM fungi varied greatly. Glomus and Acaulospora were the dominant genera, and Acaulospora scrobiculata was the most frequent and abundant species. The species richness of AM fungi was 2.73 in the study area. Species richness and diversity index differed among the sedge species but were not correlated with soil factors such as pH, available P, or organic matter content.

Keywords

Sedges Arbuscular mycorrhiza Fungal structure Grassland Species diversity Tibet 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Projects 30370818, 30260055, and 30470341) and the Royal Society (China Exchanges Project 15360) for financial support.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2006

Authors and Affiliations

  • J. P. Gai
    • 1
  • X. B. Cai
    • 2
  • G. Feng
    • 1
  • P. Christie
    • 1
    • 3
  • X. L. Li
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Plant NutritionChina Agricultural UniversityBeijingChina
  2. 2.College of Agricultural and Animal HusbandryUniversity of TibetLinzhiChina
  3. 3.Agricultural and Environmental Science DepartmentQueen’s University BelfastNewforge Lane, BelfastUK

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