Mycorrhizal fungi-mediated uptake of tree-derived nitrogen by maize in smallholder farms

Trees within farmers’ fields can enhance systems’ longer-term productivity, for example, via nutrient amelioration, which is indispensable to attain sustainable agroecosystems. While arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are known to improve plant access to soil nutrients, the potential of AMF to media...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature sustainability 2022-01, Vol.5 (1), p.64-70
Main Authors: Dierks, Janina, Blaser-Hart, Wilma J., Gamper, Hannes A., Six, Johan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/2458
631/449/2676/2061
704/158/2456
704/47/4112
Agricultural ecosystems
Cereal crops
Corn
Earth and Environmental Science
Environment
Fungi
Leaf litter
Leaves
Nitrogen
Nutrient uptake
Small farms
Soil nutrients
Sustainable Development
Trees
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Summary:Trees within farmers’ fields can enhance systems’ longer-term productivity, for example, via nutrient amelioration, which is indispensable to attain sustainable agroecosystems. While arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are known to improve plant access to soil nutrients, the potential of AMF to mediate nutrient uptake of tree-derived nitrogen (N) by crops from beyond the crops’ rooting zones is unclear. We hypothesized that AMF quantitatively contribute to the crop uptake of tree-derived N. We set up root- and AMF-exclusion and control plots around faidherbia trees ( Faidherbia albida ) and used the 15 N natural abundance technique to determine the magnitude of AMF-mediated uptake of tree-derived N by maize from beyond its rooting zone in smallholder fields. We further tested whether AMF-mediated N uptake decreases with distance from tree. We show that within one cropping season, maize obtained approximately 35 kg ha –1 biologically fixed N from faidherbia. One-third of tree-derived N in maize leaves was attributed to AMF-mediated N uptake from beyond the maize rooting zone and two-thirds to N from tree leaf litter, regardless of distance from tree. As hypothesized, maize grown close (1 m) to faidherbia obtained significantly more tree-derived N than that at farther distances (4 and 5 m). Thus, the faidherbia–AMF association can enhance agroecosystem functioning. Soil fungi can form beneficial associations with plant roots. This study finds that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can increase crop uptake of nitrogen derived from common trees in African smallholder maize fields, sustainably enhancing these agroecosystems.
ISSN:2398-9629
2398-9629
DOI:10.1038/s41893-021-00791-7