The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community response to warming and grazing differs between soil and roots on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.

ABSTRACT: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form symbiotic associations with most plant species in terrestrial ecosystems, and are affected by environmental variations. To reveal the impact of disturbance on an AM fungal community under future global warming, we examined the abundance and community composition of AM fungi in both soil and mixed roots in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Warming and grazing had no significant effect on AM root colonization, spore density and extraradical hyphal density. A total of 65 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of AM fungi were identified from soil and roots using molecular techniques. AM fungal OTU richness was higher in soil (54 OTUs) than in roots (34 OTUs), and some AM fungi that differed between soil and roots, showed significantly b

SUBMITTER: Yang W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3784447 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature