scholarly journals Tillage or no-tillage: Impact on mycorrhizae

2005 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahangir Kabir

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are ubiquitous in agricultural soils. These fungi play important roles in plant nutrition and soil conservation. The persistence of AM fungi in ecosystems depends on the formation and survival of propagules (e.g., spore, hyphae and colonized roots). While spores are considered to be resistant structure that may be view as “long-term” propagules when viable host plants are not present, hyphae are considered to be the main source of inocula when host plants are present and the soil is not disturbed. Tillage is an integral part of modern agriculture that can modify the physical, chemical and biological properties of a soil. Consequently, tillage practices may also affect AM fungi. The various tillage practices used in the management of soil for maximum crop production may negatively impact the survival of AM fungal propagules. In tilled soil, certain AM species may survive while others may disappear. Because AM fungi are more abundant in the topsoil, deep plowing may dilute their propagules in a greater volume of soil, thereby reducing the level of infection of a plant root. Tillage is particularly detrimental to AM hyphae if the soil is tilled in the fall and the hyphae are detached from the host plant. Under no-till (NT), AM fungi survive better, particularly when they are close to the host crop on which they developed. There is speculation that in NT systems, plants may follow old root channels and potentially encounter more AM fungal propagules than plants growing in soil that has been tilled. Management of AM fungi in NT soil is essential to maximizing benefits to crops. This review reports how tillage practices affect AM fungi species richness, survivability and infectivity, and how conservation tillage can increase AM fungi survival, consequently improving plant phosphorus uptake and soil aggregate stability. Key words: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, conservation tillage, conventional tillage, P uptake, soil aggregate stability, cover crops, crop yield

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varaidzo W. Chifetete ◽  
Joanna F. Dames

The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important tuber crop with high dietary value that could potentially help to alleviate malnutrition and hunger in Africa. However, production is expensive, with high fertilizer and pesticide demands that lead to environmental pollution, and tillage practices that negatively affect soil structure. Microorganisms of different types have increasingly been found to be useful as biofertilizers, and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are an important crop symbiont. AM fungi have been shown to increase tolerance of crop plants to drought, salinity and disease by facilitating water and nutrient acquisition and by improving overall soil structure. However, the establishment and maintenance of the symbioses are greatly affected by agricultural practices. Here, we review the benefits that AM fungi confer in potato production, discuss the role and importance of mycorrhiza helper bacteria, and focus on how AM fungal diversity and abundance can be affected by conventional agricultural practices, such as those used in potato production. We suggest approaches for maintaining AM fungal abundance in potato production by highlighting the potential of conservation tillage practices augmented with cover crops and crop rotations. An approach that balances weed control, nutrient provision, and AM fungal helper bacterial populations, whilst promoting functional AM fungal populations for varying potato genotypes, will stimulate efficient mycorrhizal interventions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisângela Viana Barbosa ◽  
Daniela de Fátima Pedroso ◽  
Nilton Curi ◽  
Marco Aurélio Carbone Carneiro

ABSTRACT Soil structure, which is defined by the arrangement of the particles and the porous space forming aggregates, is one of the most important properties of the soil. Among the biological factors that influence the formation and stabilization of soil aggregates, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are distinguished due to extrarradicular hyphae and glomalin production. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate different AMF (Acaulospora colombiana, Acaulospora longula, Acaulospora morrowiae, Paraglomus occultum and Gigaspora margarita) associated with Urochloa brizantha (A. Rich.) Stapf on soil aggregate stability. The study was conducted in a completely randomized design, using an Oxisol and autoclaved sand 2:1 (v/v), with seven treatments: five AMF; and treatments with plants without inoculation and with only the soil, with 5 replicates. The experiment was conducted during 180 days and the following variables were evaluated: mycelium total length (TML); production of easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) in the soil and aggregate classes; stability of the dry and immersed in water aggregates through the mean geometric diameter (MGD) and the mean weighted diameter (MWD) of aggregates; and the soil aggregate stability index (ASI). It was observed that the inoculation favored soil aggregation, with a high incidence of A. colombiana, which presented the highest MGD, TML and GRSP production in the aggregates with Ø>2.0mm and for A. colombiana and A. morrowiae in the aggregates with Ø<0.105 mm, when compared to the treatment without inoculation. These results show that there is a distinction between the effects of different AMF on the formation and stability of soil aggregates.


2012 ◽  
Vol 610-613 ◽  
pp. 3063-3066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Ming Huang ◽  
Qiang Sheng Wu ◽  
Yan Li

The effects of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus mosseae, on plant growth, soil aggregate stability, and rhizosphere carbon pools of young Citrus junos seedings were investigated with potted experiment in greenhouse. After three months of mycorrhizal inoculation, root colonization was 54.25%. Inoculation with G. mosseae significantly promoted plant height, stem diameter, leaf number, and shoot and root fresh weights. Colonization by G. mosseae significantly increased soil aggregate stability of the citrus rhizosphere through increase of mean weight diameter. G. mosseae could release a specific glycoprotein viz. glomalin into the rhizosphere as glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP). Meanwhile, mycorrhizal colonization was significantly positively correlated with two GRSP fractions. In stabilization of aggregate stability, in GRSP fractions only easy extractable -GRSP might contribute the role. The mycorrhizal symbiosis could increase soil organic carbon, hot-water extractable carbohydrates, and hydrolyzed carbohydrates concentrations, but the differences were not significant. Combined with the correlation analysis, it suggests that GRPS did not significantly regulate rhizospheric carbon pools, due to the short treated time (only 3 months).


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Jessica Duchicela ◽  
James D. Bever ◽  
Peggy A. Schultz

The establishments of new organisms that arrive naturally or with anthropogenic assistance depend primarily on local conditions, including biotic interactions. We hypothesized that plants that rely on fungal symbionts are less likely to successfully colonize remote environments such as oceanic islands, and this can shape subsequent island ecology. We analyzed the mycorrhizal status of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos flora compared with the mainland Ecuador flora of origin. We experimentally determined plant responsiveness and plant–soil feedback of the island flora and assessed mycorrhizal density and soil aggregate stability of island sites. We found that a greater proportion of the native island flora species belongs to families that typically do not associate with mycorrhizal fungi than expected based upon the mainland flora of origin and the naturalized flora of the island. Native plants benefited significantly less from soil fungi and had weaker negative soil feedbacks than introduced species. This is consistent with the observation that field sites dominated by native plant species had lower arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal density and lower soil aggregate stability than invaded field sites at the island. We found support for a mycorrhizal filter to the initial colonization of the Galapagos.


Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 527
Author(s):  
Gheorghe Stegarescu ◽  
Jordi Escuer-Gatius ◽  
Kaido Soosaar ◽  
Karin Kauer ◽  
Tõnu Tõnutare ◽  
...  

The decomposition of fresh crop residues added to soil for agricultural purposes is complex. This is due to different factors that influence the decomposition process. In field conditions, the incorporation of crop residues into soil does not always have a positive effect on aggregate stability. The aim of this study was to investigate the decomposition effects of residues from two different cover crops (Brassica napus var. oleifera and Secale cereale) and one main crop (wheat straw) on soil aggregate stability. A 105-day incubation experiment was conducted in which crop residues were mixed with sandy loam soil at a rate of 6 g C kg−1 of soil. During the incubation, there were five water additions. The decomposition effects of organic matter on soil conditions during incubation were evaluated by determining the soil functional groups; carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) emissions; soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC); and water-stable aggregates (WSA). The functional groups of the plant residues and the soil were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and a double exponential model was used to estimate the decomposition rates. The results show that the decomposition rate of fresh organic materials was correlated with the soil functional groups and the C/N ratio. Oilseed rape and rye, with lower C/N ratios than wheat straw residues, had faster decomposition rates and higher CO2 and N2O emissions than wheat straw. The CO2 and N2O flush at the start of the experiment corresponded to a decrease of soil aggregate stability (from Day 3 to Day 10 for CO2 and from Day 19 to Day 28 for N2O emissions), which was linked to higher decomposition rates of the labile fraction. The lower decomposition rates contributed to higher remaining C (carbon) and higher soil aggregate stability. The results also show that changes in the soil functional groups due to crop residue incorporation did not significantly influence aggregate stability. Soil moisture (SM) negatively influenced the aggregate stability and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in all treatments (oilseed rape, rye, wheat straw, and control). Irrespective of the water addition procedure, rye and wheat straw residues had a positive effect on water-stable aggregates more frequently than oilseed rape during the incubation period. The results presented here may contribute to a better understanding of decomposition processes after the incorporation of fresh crop residues from cover crops. A future field study investigating the influence of incorporation rates of different crop residues on soil aggregate stability would be of great interest.


Author(s):  
Surachet Aramrak ◽  
Natthapol Chittamart ◽  
Worachart Wisawapipat ◽  
Wutthida Rattanapichai ◽  
Mutchima Phun-Iam ◽  
...  

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