Arbuscular mycorrhizae are important for growth and survival of tropical trees. We studied the community of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a tropical mountain rain forest and in neighbouring reforestation plots in the area of Reserva Biológica San Francisco (South Ecuador). The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were analysed with molecular methods sequencing part of the 18 S rDNA. The sequences were classified as Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs). We found high fungal species richness with OTUs belonging to Glomerales, Diversisporales and Archaeosporales. Despite intensive sampling, the rarefaction curves are still unsaturated for the pristine forest and the reforestation plots. The communities consisted of few frequent and many rare species. No specific interactions are recognizable. The plant individuals are associated with one to ten arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and mostly with one to four. The fungal compositions associated with single plant individuals show a great variability and variety within one plant species. Planted and naturally occurring plants show high similarities in their fungal communities. Pristine forest and reforestation plots showed similar richness, similar diversity and a significantly nested structure of plant-AMF community. The results indicate that small-scale fragmentation presently found in this area has not destroyed the natural AMF community, at least yet. Thus, the regeneration potential of natural forest vegetation at the tested sites is not inhibited by a lack of appropriate mycobionts.
Reforestation Sites Show Similar and Nested AMF Communities to an Adjacent Pristine Forest in a Tropical Mountain Area of South Ecuador
I. Haug,Sabrina D. Setaro,J. Suárez
Published 2013 in PLoS ONE
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2013
- Venue
PLoS ONE
- Publication date
2013-05-06
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- 18s rdna sequencing
A molecular sequencing approach targeting part of the small-subunit ribosomal DNA used to characterize fungal communities in this study.
Aliases: sequencing part of the 18S rDNA, 18S rDNA
- arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Symbiotic fungi associated with plant roots and the main fungal group analyzed in this paper.
Aliases: AMF, arbuscular mycorrhizae
- archaeosporales
An order of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi represented among the recovered OTUs.
- diversisporales
An order of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi represented among the recovered OTUs.
- glomerales
An order of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi represented among the recovered OTUs.
- intensive sampling
Repeated or dense sampling effort applied to the forest and reforestation sites.
- naturally occurring plants
Host plants that were present naturally in the sampled area rather than planted.
Aliases: naturally occurring individuals
- nested structure
A community pattern in which one set of plant-associated fungal assemblages is embedded within another.
Aliases: nestedness
- operational taxonomic units
Sequence-based clusters used here to classify arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity.
Aliases: OTUs
- plant-amf community
The community formed by associations between individual plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the sampled sites.
Aliases: plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi community
- planted plants
Host plants established through planting in the reforestation plots.
Aliases: planted individuals
- plant individuals
Individual host plants whose root-associated fungal communities were sampled and compared.
Aliases: individual plants
- pristine forest
The adjacent undisturbed tropical mountain rainforest site used as a reference habitat.
Aliases: pristine forest site
- rarefaction curves
Sampling curves used to assess whether observed fungal richness approached saturation.
- reforestation plots
Planted forest restoration plots adjacent to the pristine forest that were sampled for fungal communities.
Aliases: reforested plots, reforestation site
REFERENCES
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