PARENT SESSION
Tuesday, August 8, 5:00-6:30 pm
Poster Session 9 - Restoration and conservation ecology and ecosystem management
Exhibit Hall, Ballroom Level, Cook Convention Center
Native plant and mycorrhizae establishment after garlic mustard removal: implications for restoration.
Barto, Kathryn*,1, Cipollini, Don1, 1 Wright State University, Dayton, OH
ABSTRACT- Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), a Eurasian native that has invaded North America, produces compounds that inhibit growth of neighboring plants and their associated mycorrhizae. We explored the effects of three garlic mustard removal techniques (glyphosate treatment, total plant removal, shoot removal only) on the growth of introduced pale touch-me-not (Impatiens pallida) and its associated mycorrhizae. Garlic mustard plants were grown in root-viewing chambers for four months, then removed and replaced with a newly germinated I. pallida seed. Half the chambers contained activated carbon to absorb allelopathic organic compounds. We added field collected mycorrhizal inocula to the surface of half the chambers when planting I. pallida seeds. Weekly, we monitored I. pallida plant height, and the status of mycorrhizae in the root system using epifluorescence microscopy. We calculated root colonization and soil colonization indices and quantified the fluorescence of several root segments within each chamber. After one week of observations, I. pallida plants were shorter in chambers with activated carbon. The root colonization index was higher in chambers that had received inocula. The soil colonization index was highest in chambers where only the garlic mustard shoot had been removed, followed by chambers where the entire plant was removed, then chambers where garlic mustard plants had been treated with glyphosate. A more intense fluorescence, indicating more colonization, was observed in chambers where only the garlic mustard shoot had been removed. Removal of garlic mustard shoots, followed by addition of mycorrhizal inocula, provided the best conditions for early establishment of mycorrhizae.
Key words: Alliaria petiolata, restoration, arbuscular mycorrhizae