PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #102: Soil Ecology: Mycorrhizae .
Presiding: N. Johnson
Friday, August 9. 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Apache Meeting Room, TCC.
Effect of ground litter from various species on ectomycorrhizal fungal communities on Pinus rigida seedlings.
JONSSON, LENA*,1, DIGHTON, JOHN1, LUSSENHOP, JOHN2, KOIDE, ROGER3, 1 Rutgers Pinelands Field Station, Rutgers University, New Lisbon, NJ2 University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL3 Penn State University, State College, PA
ABSTRACT- To test the effect of different litter types from various species on Pinus rigida ectomycorrhazal fungal communities, microcosms were built using transparent acrylic sheets. In each microcosm a total of 40 g of organic material was added, and two non-mycorrhizal P. rigida seedlings were planted in each microcosm. Controls consisted of 100 % forest humic horizon material. In the remaining treatments, 75 % humic horizon material was mixed with 25 % ground leaf litter from P. rigida, Quercus alba, Gaylussacia baccata or a mixture of all three. Each of these 5 treatments were replicated 6 times. The experiment was harvested after 11 months. The control had significantly more plant biomass, but the soil was significantly dryer than the other treatments. The total number of mycorrhizas and five of the 10 morphotypes did not differ between treatments. The remaining morphotypes were significantly different from all or some of the other treatments in abundance. Cenoccocum geophilum occurred in all treatments but was significantly more abundant in the G. baccata litter. Fresh Q. alba litter total phenolics and tannins were significantly greater than the rest. At harvest, G. baccata differed the most. At harvest, Q. alba, had the highest total organic and inorganic nitrogen content. Our results suggest litter type and quality can influence the ectomycorrhizal fungal community constellation. Molecular identification of mycorrhizas and the effect of soil micro arthropods were also investigated
KEY WORDS: Ectomycorrhiza, Litter decomposition, Phenolics, Nitrogen