N-P fertilization did not reduce AMF abundance or diversity but alter AMF composition in an alpine grassland infested by a root hemiparasitic plant.

ABSTRACT: Fertilization has been shown to have suppressive effects on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and root hemiparasites separately in numerous investigations, but its effects on AMF in the presence of root hemiparasites remain untested. In view of the contrasting nutritional effects of AMF and root hemiparasites on host plants, we tested the hypothesis that fertilization may not show strong suppressive effects on AMF when a plant community was infested by abundant hemiparasitic plants. Plants and soil samples were collected from experimental field plots in Bayanbulak Grassland, where N and P fertilizers had been applied for three continuous years for control against a spreading root hemiparasite, Pedicularis kansuensis. Shoot and root biomass of each plant functional group were determ

SUBMITTER: Wang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6114256 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature