| 1. |
- Camenzind, Tessa, et al.
(författare)
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Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal and soil microbial communities in African Dark Earths
- 2018
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Ingår i: FEMS Microbiology Ecology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0168-6496 .- 1574-6941. ; 94:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The socio-economic values of fertile and carbon-rich Dark Earth soils are well described from the Amazon region. Very recently, Dark Earth soils were also identified in tropical West Africa, with comparable beneficial soil properties and plant growth-promoting effects. The impact of this management technique on soil microbial communities, however, is less well understood, especially with respect to the ecologically relevant group of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Thus, we tested the hypotheses that (1) improved soil quality in African Dark Earth (AfDE) will increase soil microbial biomass and shift community composition and (2) concurrently increased nutrient availability will negatively affect AM fungal communities. Microbial communities were distinct in AfDE in comparison to adjacent sites, with an increased fungal:bacterial ratio of 71%, a pattern mainly related to shifts in pH. AM fungal abundance and diversity, however, did not differ despite clearly increased soil fertility in AfDE, with 3.7 and 1.7 times greater extractable P and total N content, respectively. The absence of detrimental effects on AM fungi, often seen following applications of inorganic fertilizers, and the enhanced role of saprobic fungi relevant for mineralization and C sequestration support previous assertions of this management type as a sustainable alternative agricultural practice.
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| 2. |
- Camenzind, Tessa, et al.
(författare)
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Increases in soil aggregation following phosphorus additions in a tropical premontane forest are not driven by root and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal abundances
- 2016
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Earth Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-6463. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tropical ecosystems have an important role in global change scenarios, in part because they serve as a large terrestrial carbon pool. Carbon protection is mediated by soil aggregation processes, whereby biotic and abiotic factors influence the formation and stability of aggregates. Nutrient additions may affect soil structure indirectly by simultaneous shifts in biotic factors, mainly roots, and fungal hyphae, but also via impacts on abiotic soil properties. Here, we tested the hypothesis that soil aggregation will be affected by nutrient additions primarily via changes in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) hyphae and root length in a pristine tropical forest system. Therefore, the percentage of water-stable macroaggregates (> 250 µm) (WSA) and the soil mean weight diameter (MWD) was analyzed, as well as nutrient contents, pH, root length, and AMF abundance. Phosphorus additions significantly increased the amount of WSA, which was consistent across two different sampling times. Despite a positive effect of phosphorus additions on extra-radical AMF biomass, no relationship between WSA and extra-radical AMF nor roots was revealed by regression analyses, contrary to the proposed hypothesis. These findings emphasize the importance of analyzing soil structure in understudied tropical systems, since it might be affected by increasing nutrient deposition expected in the future.
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