ArticlePDF Available

Diversity and colonization of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the tree fern Alsophila firma in rainy and dry season

Springer Nature
Symbiosis
Authors:

Abstract

Alsophila firma is a deciduous tree fern considered as an emblematic species of Mexican tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF). We studied spores diversity, structure and colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) within the roots of the Alsophila firma in rainy and dry season. Eighteen species of the genera Acaulospora (5), Gigaspora (4), Glomus (4), Funneliformis (2), Sclerocystis (2) and Scutellospora (1) were identified. The species F. constrictum, F. geosporum, Gigaspora albida, G. decipiens, Glomus microaggregatum and Sclerocystis coremioides are reported for the first time in TMCF. The dominant genera were Funneliformis and Acaulospora. In rainy season, a higher richness (H′ t0.005(2)9 = 4.78) and evenness (E) of AMF spores was recorded, compared to the dry season. However, the degree of colonization was statistically significant higher in the dry season. This study is the first to estimate the species richness of AMF associated with the rhizosphere of a fern in Mexico as well as for A. firma.
A preview of the PDF is not available
... Las condiciones climáticas del entorno también afectan la colonización por HMA, Vieira et al. (2020) trabajando en un ecosistema tropical, encontraron una tasa de colonización mayor en época seca, contrario a lo indicado por Lara-Pérez et al. (2014), quienes trabajaron con un helecho arborescente encontraron mayor colonización en época lluviosa. Estas discrepancias pueden estar relacionados con las fluctuaciones en las épocas, la fenologia de las plantas (Kowal et al. 2020) o quizás, con las especies vegetales. ...
... Por otro lado, se conoce que la diversidad y el establecimiento de los HMA son influenciados por factores químicos del suelo como el contenido de materia orgánica, nitrógeno, fósforo, pH, factores físicos como la temperatura, la aireación, la textura (Smith y Read 2008) y condiciones ambientales como la época, siendo mayor la riqueza en época lluviosa (Lara-Pérez et al. 2014). ...
... Según el modelo Chao 2 se obtuvo el 74 % de las morfoespecies esperadas, suficiente para representar la composición de las comunidades de HMA. Este modelo que ha sido aplicado en otros estudios de HMA sobre diversidad (Lara-Pérez et al. 2014, Hernández-Zamudio et al. 2018), ha mostrado la presencia de especies raras o poco frecuentes y su integración en las comunidades de HMA en ambientes particulares como los ecosistemas tropicales. ...
Article
Full-text available
Gustavia romeroi es una especie endémica de Colombia que se encuentra en peligro de extinción por la conversión de bosques en sistemas agropecuarios, deforestación, fragmentación del hábitat y la caza de agentes dispersores, de la cual se desconocen sus interacciones edáficas siendo importantes para su conservación. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el grado de asociación micorrícico arbuscular de G. romeroi, las interacciones ecológicas y morfoespecies de hongos micorrícicos arbusculares (HMA) asociadas respecto a la edad de la planta en diferentes épocas. Se tomaron 72 muestras de suelo y raíces de cuatro clases diamétricas (plántula, juvenil, arbolito, árbol) en época seca y lluviosa; las variables fisicoquímicas, porcentaje de colonización y las comunidades micorrícicas se analizaron mediante una red de interacción y atributos ecológicos. La colonización varió de 14,9 a 92,9 %, con diferencias entre clases diamétricas en época de lluvias (p = 0,0061), siendo mayor en juveniles y arbolitos. Se registraron 79 morfoespecies HMA principalmente de los géneros Acaulospora y Glomus. No se encontraron diferencias en la composición de morfoespecies entre clases diamétricas en ninguna época, pero si entre épocas (p = 0,027). La red de interacciones ecológicas mostró morfoespecies particulares para épocas y clases diamétricas y también la formación de cuatro módulos. Se demostró la asociación simbiótica de G. romeroi con HMA y aspectos ecológicos como el anidamiento de morfoespecies de HMA y su modularidad, lo cual contribuye a entender la dinámica de la especie en su entorno natural y al mejoramiento de los planes para su conservación.
... The ecological importance of ferns has been increasingly supported by research reporting their antagonistic, mutualistic or neutral interactions with other organisms (Mehltreter 2010). There are some studies on herbivory (e.g., Farias et al. 2018) and mycorrhizal associations (Lara-Pérez et al. 2014;Lara-Pérez et al. 2015), but ferns have almost always been studied separately from other plants. Plant interactions with other organisms compose a vast field, but there have been advances in our understanding in recent decades of how plants interact with other biotic components, including other plants, animals consumers and detritivores, pollinators, and microorganisms (Austin and Ballaré 2014). ...
Article
A more complete picture of the function of plants in ecosystems results from understanding biotic interactions and this study examined the interactions between ferns and foliicolous lichens. A sampling method involving 15-h walks in each of two tropical forests in Brazil was employed to assess foliicolous lichen diversity on ferns. The nature of foliicolous lichen-fern interactions, and their relationship with forest types (lowland and submontane) and leaf traits (hairs and leaf area), was investigated. Eleven fern species were found to be hosts to 30 foliicolous lichen taxa. Telmatoblechnum serrulatum and Meniscium longifolium were considered the key hosts harboring a greater number (18 and 12) of lichen taxa, of which five taxa were restricted to these two ferns. Approximately 55% of the foliicolous lichens were found on a single fern host. Thicharia sp. A and Gyalectidium filicinum were the more interactive taxa, occurring on seven and ten host ferns, respectively. The forest type had no influence on the interactions. The foliicolous lichen-host fern network differed significantly from null expectations, and there was no sign of specialization. There was also no variation related to the presence of hairs on the sampled ferns (80% had glabrous leaves) and leaf hairs had no significant influence on lichen diversity. Furthermore, leaf area had no influence on the diversity of lichen species. Our results provide a first picture of diversity of foliicolous lichens on fern assemblages in tropical forests. However, there are uncertainties about the mechanisms driving these interactions so more research is needed.
... A. cavernata 7.4 (369) 1.6 (59) 12 ( A. morrowiae fue una de las especies más abundantes en ambos ciclos de cultivo, lo cual se puede atribuir a que se trata de un hongo MA de los más ampliamente distribuidos en diversos parajes y ecosistemas naturales de México (Montaño et al., 2012;Alarcón et al., 2012) tales como bosque nuboso montano tropical (Lara-Pérez et al., 2014) y selvas tropicales húmedas (Álvarez-Sánchez et al., 2017), o bien en sistemas agroproductivos donde se cultiva agave (Trinidad-Cruz et al., 2017), chile poblano (Carballar-Hernández et al., 2017), maíz (Pérez-Luna et al., 2012 o café (Bertolini et al., 2018), entre otros. ...
Article
Full-text available
Las comunidades microbianas tienen efectos sobre el crecimiento y productividad de los cultivos. Sin embargo, se pueden ver afectadas por diversas prácticas agrícolas. El objetivo de la investigación fue determinar la diversidad de hongos micorrízicos arbusculares (HMA) asociados al cultivo de calabaza italiana establecido en campo bajo acolchado plástico. Se evaluó la colonización, riqueza, abundancia, e índice de diversidad micorrízica en ocho tratamientos: V (vermicomposta), APB (acolchado plástico blanco), APB+V; APR (acolchado plástico rojo), APR+V; APN (acolchado plástico negro), APN+V y C (control = sin vermicomposta y acolchado plástico), distribuidos en un diseño de bloques al azar de efectos aleatorios en arreglo factorial, y las interacciones vermicomposta (con y sin vermicomposta), acolchado (sin acolchar, con APR, APB, APN) y ciclo de cultivo invierno-primavera (I-P) y verano-otoño (V-O) con tres repeticiones. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizó el software Statistica v. 12.0 para Windows. Tras comprobar la distribución normal de los datos y la homogeneidad de las varianzas, se realizaron análisis de varianza multifactorial y las medias se compararon según el criterio de Tukey (α = 0.05). Para colonización micorrízica y riqueza el ANOVA mostró diferencias signif icativas (P ≤ 0.05) por efecto de la vermicomposta, el acolchado plástico y el ciclo de cultivo. En la abundancia relativa de HMA, el número de esporas de Acaulospora morrowiae fue el más alto en el tratamiento APN (37.0%) del ciclo I-P, y la misma predisposición natural ocurrió en el ciclo V-O, donde A. morrowiae fue la morfoespecie predominante (50%) en el tratamiento APN. En índice de diversidad solo influyeron los factores vermicomposta y acolchado plástico. Se identif icaron 21 morfoespecies en V-O y solo 12 en I-P, y se constató que el APN afectó a los HMA en todas las variables evaluadas.
... Studies had indicated that AMF spore production and root colonization with numerous plants represented seasonal variation [58][59][60][61][62]. Lutgen et al. examined AMF extraradical hyphae and their exuded products, such as glomalin, which was directly related to ecosystem processes. It was found that these factors varied significantly with seasons [63], because of variations in seasonal tillage practices, fertilization, rainfall, fluctuation, and phenology of plants [64][65][66][67]. As a result, these seasonal changes may be associated with the annual variations in SD, SR, and H values of AMF. ...
Article
Full-text available
Hevea brasiliensis is one of the important economic trees with a great economic value for natural rubber production. Symbiosis between roots of H. brasi-liensis and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is widely recognized, and can provide a range of benefits for both of them. Hainan Island harbors is one of the largest plantations of H. brasiliensis in China, whereas the information regarding the diversity of AMF in the rhizosphere of H. brasiliensis on this island is scarce. The diversity of AMF species in the rhizosphere of rubber tree plantations in Hainan was investigated in this study. A total of 72 soil samples from the rhizosphere of H. brasiliensis RY7-33-97 were collected. These included 48 samples from plantations in 11 cities or counties that had been planted for 15–25 years, and 24 samples from a demonstrating plantation site of the China National Rubber Tree Germplasm Repo-sitory representing plantations with tree plantation ages from one to 40 year-old. Collectively, a total of 68 morphotypes of AMF, belonging to the genera of Archae-ospora (1), Glomus (43), Acaulospora (18), Entrophospora (3), Scutellospora (2), and Gigaspora (1) were isolated and identified, as per morphological characteristics of spores presented in the collected soil samples. Glomus (Frequency, F = 100%) and Acaulospora (F = 100%) were the predominant genera, and A. mellea (F = 63.9%) and A. scrobiculata (F = 63.9%) were the predominant species. AMF species differed significantly among collected sites in spore density (SD, 290.7–2,186.7 spores per 100 g dry soil), species richness (SR, 4.3–12.3), and Shannon-Weiner index of diversity (H, 1.24–2.24). SD was negatively correlated with available phosphorus level in the soil; SR was positively correlated with soil total phosphorus content; and H was positively correlated with levels of soil organic matter and total phosphorus. Simi-larly, SD, SR, and H were also correlated with H. brasiliensis plantation age, and an increasing trend was observed up to 40 years. These results suggest that the AMF community was complex and ubiquitous in the island plantation ecosystems of H. brasiliensis, with high species abundance and diversity. Soil factors and plantation age dramatically affected AMF diversity at species level.
... Therefore, more grazing intensity experiments to determine all AM fungal structures will be valuable for accurate estimation of AM fungal response across diverse grassland ecosystems. Second, our data collection is based on the period of peak above-ground biomass, but AM fungal response is a continuous dynamic process under different seasons (Bencherif et al., 2016;Lara-Perez et al., 2014;Liu et al., 2013). Lack of continuous measurement may result in missed AM fungal responses, and therefore, future efforts will be needed to uncover the transient dynamics of AM fungal response. ...
Article
Livestock grazing activities substantially contribute to worldwide grassland degradation and potentially alter the growth of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The global patterns of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in response to grazing, especially grazing intensity, are still unclear. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of grazing intensity experiments to examine the grazing intensity effects on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi across global grasslands. The results showed that heavy or moderate grazing consistently reduced arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal abundance by 34.38% and 9.14%, but light grazing had no significant effect. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal abundance was reduced with longer duration of grazing (-22.91%) and lower annual precipitation (-17.43%). Grazing decrease the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal was possibly attributedto the reduction of above-ground biomass, in agreement with the carbon limitation hypothesis. It suggests the inhibition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal abundance by grazing at the cost of plant above-ground biomass. These findings highlight the negative effect of heavy grazing on arbuscular mycorrhizaes across worldwide grassland, and which may contribute to understand the effects of livestock grazing activities on symbiotic relationships between host plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
... The situation was opposite during the first year of sampling. Rainy periods have been previously correlated with an increase in root colonization, extraradical mycelium, and diversity (Lara-Pérez et al. 2014;Pandey et al. 2016), and this could contribute to explain the peak of diversity seen between the first and the second years of sampling (spring of 2011 and autumn of 2012). ...
Article
Full-text available
Intensive farming practices that implement deep and frequent tillage, high input inorganic fertilization, cultivation with non-host species, and pesticide use are widely reported to be detrimental for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which are one of the most important plant biofertilizers. The effect of the reduction of agricultural input on AMF community dynamics following conversion from conventional non-mycorrhizal to lower input mycorrhizal crop cultivation has not yet been fully elucidated. We investigated the effect of the reduction of agricultural input, rotation, and season on AMF communities in winter wheat field soil after conversion from long-term (more than 20 years) non-mycorrhizal (sugar beet) crop cultivation. We described AMF communities from bulk soil samples by specifically targeting the 18S ribosomal gene using a combination of AMF specific primers and 454 pyrosequencing. No effect was found after 3 years’ reduction of agricultural input, and only marginal effects were due to rotation with specific crops preceding winter wheat. Instead, season and year of sampling had the most appreciable influence on the AMF community. We suggest that, after conversion from long-term non-mycorrhizal to mycorrhizal crop cultivation, AMF diversity is low if compared to similar agroecosystems. Seasonal and successional dynamics play an important role as determinants of community structure.
... En contraste, el muestreo de mayo se estabilizó a partir de la muestra 13 y el de septiembre a partir de la muestra 9. El estimador Chao 2 predijo 22 especies para el muestreo de febrero, 17 para el de mayo y 13 para el de septiembre. Estos modelos se han aplicado en algunos estudios de HMA sobre diversidad 14,26,37,43 . ...
Article
Full-text available
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) of arid and semiarid ecosystems are important for the development of plants that grow under biotic stress in wild or in agro-ecosystems. There is little information on the temporal diversity of these organisms in perennial plants from arid ecosystems in northern Mexico. On this study, the mycorrhizal colonization and the temporal diversity of AMF in the rhizosphere of Larrea tridentata, perennial plant abundant in the Chihuahuan Desert region were explored. Samples of the rhizosphere and roots of fifteen plants in each of the three sampling dates during the 2015 year were obtained. A total of 17 species of HMA belonging to 12 genera and 7 families within the phylum Glomeromycota in all three sampling dates were found. Funneliformis geosporum was the dominant species belonging to the family Glomeraceae which possess the highest genera number on L. tridentata. The highest mycorrhization percentage was in February with 83.22, followed by September and May with 75.27 and 65.27%, respectively. A maximum of 16 AM fungal species were isolated and identified from L. tridentata rhizosphere in February, 15 species in May and 12 species in September. Statistical analysis showed significant differences between sampling dates in the spores number.
Article
Full-text available
The state of Veracruz integrates 12 vegetation types and diverse ecosystems. However, the richness, and completeness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inventories by vegetation type are unknown in Veracruz. Our objectives were (i) to gather a checklist of the AMF from the literature review to recognize AMF distribution according to biotic provinces, and (ii) to estimate the richness of the agroecosystems and natural vegetation in the state of Veracruz, using rarefaction and extrapolation curves. We compiled 130 AMF species belonging to 6 orders, 12 families, and 29 genera, reported from five natural ecosystems, and agroecosystems based on 27 published scientific papers. The highest AMF richness was associated with agroecosystems (116 spp.) followed by tropical deciduous forest (13 spp.) and coastal dunes (8 spp.). Rarefaction curves estimate 168 species (92 coverage) of AMF. Although this is a conservative analysis, it places Veracruz as the state of Mexico with the highest richness of AMF.
Preprint
Aims The co-occurrence of soil microorganisms and plants is of great significance in revealing the material cycle. The study of the community structure and co-occurrence network relationship of rhizosphere soil fungi of the relict plant Alsophila spinulosa can reveal the mechanism of constructing soil fungal communities. Methods The community structure and co-occurrence network characteristics of soil fungi in the rhizosphere of A. spinulosa were analysed using Illumina Miseq sequencing technology and co-occurrence networks. Results The rhizosphere soil fungal communities of A. spinulosa are significantly different from those in the nonrhizosphere soil. The rhizosphere soil fungal phylogeny of A. spinulosa was concentrated in Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Rozellomycota. Aggregation of Cutaneotrichosporon, the main differential species, significantly affected the construction of the rhizosphere fungal community of A. spinulosa. The indicator fungal groups of the rhizosphere soil fungal community of A. spinulosa were significantly influenced by habitat. Saprotrophs are the main fungi responsible for material exchange in A. spinulosa. Increase in the relative abundance of animal pathogens was the main factor affecting the percentage of pathotroph. The rhizosphere soil fungal co-occurrence networks of A. spinulosa had high synergism and network connectivity, and more intense interspecies competition at the order level. Conclusions Overall, the rhizosphere soil fungal community of A. spinulosa altered significantly, with a stable co-occurrence network. Continuous in-depth study on the growth of the key soil fungi can help understand the growth mechanism of A. spinulosa.
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Poplar is a tree species with important production and application value. The symbiotic relationship between poplar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) has a key role in ecosystem functioning. However, there remain questions concerning the seasonal dynamics of the AMF community in poplar roots, the relationship between AMF and the soil environment, and its ecological function. Method Poplar roots and rhizosphere soil were sampled at the end of April and the end of October. The responses of AMF communities to season, host age, and host species were investigated; the soil environmental factors driving community changes were analyzed. Results The diversity and species composition of the AMF community were higher in autumn than in spring. Season, host age, host species, and soil environmental factors affected the formation of the symbiotic mycorrhizal system and the AMF community. Differences in the communities could be explained by soil pH, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, available potassium, and glomalin content. Discussion The AMF community was sensitive to changes in soil physicochemical properties caused by seasonal dynamics, particularly total potassium. The change in the mycorrhizal symbiotic system was closely related to the growth and development of poplar trees.
Article
Full-text available
The diversity, abundance and frequency of vascular epiphytes on the lower trunk were compared between two host groups of a Mexican cloud forest: angiosperm trees (n = 72) and tree ferns (n = 28). The bark of the five most frequent host trees and the root mantle of the two tree ferns were analysed for their thickness, water content, water retention capacity and pH. A total of 55 epiphyte species and 910 individuals were found on the 27 host species. On hosts with a dbh range of 5-10 cm, epiphytes were significantly more diverse (4.3 ± 0.9 species per host) and more abundant (12.5 ± 2.2 individuals per host) on tree ferns than on angiosperm trees (1.9 ± 0.2 species per host and 3.9 ± 0.6 individuals per host). However, these differences were not significant for the dbh class of 10-20 cm, because epiphyte numbers increased on angiosperm trees with larger host size, but not in tree ferns. Most epiphyte species had no preference for any host group, but four species were significantly more frequent on tree ferns and two species on angiosperm trees. The higher epiphyte diversity and abundance on tree fern trunks of the smallest dbh class is attributed to their presumably greater age and to two stem characteristics, which differed significantly between host groups, the thicker root mantle and higher water retention capacity of tree ferns. These bark characteristics may favour germination and establishment of epiphytes.
Article
Full-text available
La micorriza arbuscular es una simbiosis mutualista ampliamente distribuida que se forma entre las raíces de la mayoría de las comunidades vegetales de herbáceas y árboles tropicales y un pequeño grupo de hongos colonizadores de la raíz, del orden Glomales. Ésta simbiosis está caracterizada por el movimiento hacia la planta, de nutrimentos minerales adquiridos por el hongo y el flujo hacia el hongo de compuestos carbonados producidos por la planta. La diversidad taxonómica de los hongos formadores de micorriza arbuscular (HMA) ha sido pobremente estudiada en el país, ya que la mayor parte de los estudios se han enfocado en determinar la respuesta de la planta a la micorriza, sin considerar la procedencia o identidad del endofito. En México se han registrado 44 especies de HMA que corresponden al 29 % de las especies conocidas mundialmente. La mayor parte de estos registros proceden de sistemas agrícolas y solamente siete especies se han citado de ambientes naturales. Estas 44 especies proceden de tan solo 11 de los 32 estados de la República Mexicana. Aun cuando en México el conocimiento taxonómico y el manejo de estos hongos es bastante limitado, en los últimos años se han llevado a cabo trabajos en campo con plantas inoculadas en invernadero. No obstante, se requiere información sobre la persistencia en campo del endofito así como su efecto en la diversidad de la microbiota del suelo. El conocimiento de la composición y diversidad de HMA es importante para el manejo adecuado de la interacción suelo-planta-hongo a fin de lograr sistemas sustentadles.
Article
As Neotropical forests are increasingly converted to agriculture (especially pastures), little is known about the impacts on microbial biodiversity. To assess such impacts, I compared spore abundance and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in soils from lowland evergreen forests and pastures in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Species composition, dominance–diversity curves, and Simpson's diversity indices were similar for both forest and pasture soils. Of 28 distinct fungus morphospecies, 11 produced more spores in pasture, while only 1 produced more spores in forest. According to species-accumulation curves, local AMF species richness did not significantly decline following conversion of forest to pasture. Because pastures contained a surprising abundance and diversity of AMF spores compared to native forest, a lack of mycorrhizal fungi is unlikely to limit plant succession, restoration, or reforestation in the pastures studied. At the regional scale, however, species-accumulation curves showed significantly greater gamma (G) diversity of spores in forest. In addition to these trends in diversity, species that sporulated more in pasture tended to have small spores, while the one species that sporulated more in forest had the largest spores. Similarly, only large-spored fungi (>300 µm) showed any seasonal variation in spore abundance, being more common in the wet season.
Article
The phenologies of trees with temperate and tropical historical phytogeographical affinities were recorded during 60 months (1990-1994) in a lower montane forest (1300 m a.s.l.) in Veracruz, Mexico. The objective was to determine phenological patterns and their relation to climate for both deciduous and broadleaved-evergreen species. Leaf fall, leaf flush, flowering, and fruiting were recorded for 107 individuals belonging to twelve deciduous and twelve broadleaved-evergreen species. Phenological stages were scaled from 0 to 4 (referring to the proportion of each tree in a phenophase), and averaged monthly as a phenological index. Phenological periodicity was analysed as a nonmetric time-series using measures of predictability, constancy, and contingency. The climate is mild with a dry-cool season (November-March), a dry-warm season (April-May), and a wet-warm season (June-October). Foliar phenological patterns differed between deciduous and evergreen species. Deciduous species dropped leaves during the dry-cool season and leaf drop was negatively correlated with minimum temperature; leaf flushing occurred during the dry-cool and dry-warm seasons and was positively correlated with maximum temperature. In general, broadleaved-evergreen species continually dropped and flushed leaves throughout the year. Flowering and fruiting patterns did not differ between leaf habits. Mean flowering peaks occurred between February and May, but each individual species had a different annual peak. Fruiting occurred in the dry-warm and wet-warm seasons. Three species were distinct in their fruiting phenologies, Styrax and Meliosma exhibited supra-annual patterns, and Hedyosmum fruited most of the year. For several species, fruiting and minimum temperature were positively correlated. Factors other than abiotic ones (e.g. biotic interactions and phylogenetic relationships) may be involved in the phenological patterns observed and they should be investigated.