Host plant richness and environment in tropical forest transformation systems shape arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal richness.

ABSTRACT: Transformation of tropical lowland rain forests into rubber tree and oil palm plantations is the cause of massive loss of vegetation diversity. The consequences for associated mycorrhizal fungi are not fully understood. We hypothesized that generalist arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are resistant to removal of host species richness and that forest conversion to oil palm and rubber leads to loss of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) species with host preferences. Plant identities and AMF species were determined by molecular barcoding of 112 roots collected in three land-use systems (rain forest, rubber tree and oil palm plantation) in two landscapes on Sumatra (Indonesia), a world hotspot of forest transformation. The collected roots were from 43 forest plant species, in addition to rubber tr

SUBMITTER: Edy N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9606760 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature