Assessing diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a local community: role of sampling effort and spatial heterogeneity

Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was assessed in two 9.2 x 9.2-m plots planted with landscape trees and shrubs at an experimental site in Phoenix, AZ, USA. Twenty-five soil samples were collected in a regular grid pattern from each plot, and AMF species were identified using trap cult...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mycorrhiza 2007-07, Vol.17 (5), p.429-437
Main Authors: Whitcomb, Sean, Stutz, Jean C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arizona
Biodiversity
Biological and medical sciences
Community structure
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Fungi
Fungi - classification
Fungi - isolation & purification
geostatistics
Glomus
Heterogeneity
Mycorrhizae
Parasitism and symbiosis
Plant physiology and development
Plants - microbiology
Selection Bias
spatial distribution
Species richness
Symbiosis
vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae
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Summary:Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was assessed in two 9.2 x 9.2-m plots planted with landscape trees and shrubs at an experimental site in Phoenix, AZ, USA. Twenty-five soil samples were collected in a regular grid pattern from each plot, and AMF species were identified using trap cultures. A total of 12 species were detected, with 7 species detected in one plot and 11 in the other. We found that sampling effort had a major impact on assessing species richness and composition in this local community. Fifteen samples would be necessary to detect 70-80% of species present in each plot. A limited number of additional undetected species are likely to be present in both plots, based on the sampling effort curves and jackknife estimates. Only two species, Glomus eburneum and Glomus microaggregatum, were detected in over 50% of the samples from both plots, and rank-frequency plots revealed a lognormal species distribution. Despite the patchiness of plants in the plots, the number of species detected per point exhibited spatial structuring only at the smallest sampling scale in a single plot, and only a single species in each plot was not randomly distributed. These results indicate that sampling effort and strategy can affect perceptions of AMF community structure.
ISSN:0940-6360
1432-1890
DOI:10.1007/s00572-007-0118-5