Mycorrhizal colonization of crested wheatgrass as influenced by grazing
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Authors: G. J. Bethlenfalvay, R. A. Evans, and A. L. Lesperance
Date: 1985
Journal: Agronomy Journal
Volume: 77
Number:
Pages: 233-236
Summary of Methods: This study assessed the effects of stress (grazing) on VAM-fungal colonization of a major forage species, crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum). Changes in root colonization of crested wheatgrass plants by VAM fungi were measured under three levels of grazing pressure, ranging from no grazing to heavy, continuous grazing. VAM-fungal spore samples were statistically analyzed for root/shoot ratios, fungal colonization of roots, fungal biomass, and P contents of roots and shoots in each grazing regime. Heavy grazing reduced VAM-fungal colonization biomass and percentage of colonization per amount of root length, VAM spores per 100 g soil and the root/shoot ratio of crested wheatgrass over samples from the ungrazed plots. Severe grazing adversely affects the colonization of crested wheatgrass by VAM fungi. This reduction in the fungal symbiont may have an effect on plant nutrition and soil structure and stability.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: crested wheatgrass, agropyron desertorum, vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (vam), glomus mosseae, glomus constrictum, root/shoot ratio, phosphorus nutrition
Annotation: Site one was not grazed in 1982 and 1983. ,Site two was subjected to an intermediate level of grazing pressure of 80% utilization (heavy by project standards).,Site three was heavily grazed during the entire growing seasons of 1982 and 1983 (severe by project standards).
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