Reduced aboveground tree growth associated with higher arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity in tropical forest restoration.

ABSTRACT: Establishing diverse mycorrhizal fungal communities is considered important for forest recovery, yet mycorrhizae may have complex effects on tree growth depending on the composition of fungal species present. In an effort to understand the role of mycorrhizal fungi community in forest restoration in southern Costa Rica, we sampled the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) community across eight sites that were planted with the same species (Inga edulis, Erythrina poeppigiana, Terminalia amazonia, and Vochysia guatemalensis) but varied twofold to fourfold in overall tree growth rates. The AMF community was measured in multiple ways: as percent colonization of host tree roots, by DNA isolation of the fungal species associated with the roots, and through spore density, volume, and

SUBMITTER: Holste EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5513279 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature