TITLE:
Effectivity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi collected from reclaimed mine soil and tallgrass prairie
AUTHORS:
Mark Thorne, Landon Rhodes, John Cardina
KEYWORDS:
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi; Mycorrhizae; Ecosystem Restoration; Surface Mining; Calcareous Mine Soil; Prairie Grasses
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.3 No.3,
July
18,
2013
ABSTRACT: We
examined suitability of arbuscular mycorrhizal
fungi (AMF) associated with cool-season nonnative forages on reclaimed
surface-mined land in southeast Ohio for establishment of native warm-season
grasses. The goal of establishing these grasses is to diversify a post-reclamation
landscape that is incapable of supporting native forest species. A 16-week glasshouse study compared AMF from a
30-year reclaimed mine soil (WL) with AMF from native Ohio tallgrass prairie
soil (CL). Four native grasses were examined from seedling through 16 weeks of
growth. Comparisons were made between CL and WL AMF on colonized (+AMF) and
non-colonized plants (–AMF) at three levels of soil phosphorus (P). Leaves were
counted at 4 week intervals. Shoot and root biomass and percent AMF root colonization
were measured at termination. We found no difference between WL and CL AMF.
Added soil P did not reduce AMF colonization, but did reduce AMF efficacy. Big
bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash), and tall dropseed (Sporobolus
asper (Michx.) Kunth) benefited from AMF only at low soil P while slender
wheatgrass (Elymus trachycaulus (Link) Gould ex Shinners) exhibited no benefit. Establishment of tallgrass
prairie dominants big blue-stem and Indiangrass would be supported by the mine
soil AMF. It appears that the non-native forage species have supported AMF
equally functional as AMF from a regionally native tallgrass prairie. Tall
dropseed and slender wheatgrass were found to be less dependent on AMF than big
bluestem or Indiangrass and thus would be useful in areas with little or no AMF
inoculum.