The role of arbuscular mycorrhizae in primary succession: differences and similarities across habitats

Abstract

Primary succession is an ecological process of fundamental importance and refers to the settlement and development of vegetation on an area that has not previously been occupied by a plant community, such as a newly exposed rock, sand surface, lava flows, or glacial tills. Because such strong geomorphologic and topographic changes affect a relatively minor part of the Earth's surface, there are not many opportunities to study naturally ongoing primary succession. The bulk of knowledge on primary succession comes from areas affected by relatively recent volcanic eruptions (ca 500-300 years ago to present), hence from regions of main volcanic activity such as Japan ( Primary succession is an ecological process of fundamental importance referring to the development of vegetation on areas not previously occupied by a plant community. The bulk of knowledge on primary succession comes from areas affected by relatively recent volcanic eruptions, and highlights the importance of symbiosis between host plants and fungi for the initial stages of succession. Arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) are of particular interest as they are often present from the very beginning of primary succession and because they show different relationships with pioneer and late-successional species, which suggests they may be involved in important, yet unknown, ecological mechanisms of succession. We review existing knowledge based on case studies from the volcanic desert of Mount Fuji, Japan, where primary succession was examined intensively and which represents one of the best-known cases on the role of AM in primary succession. We also assess the potential of sand dunes and semi-arid, erosion-prone systems for addressing the role of mycorrhizas in primary succession. Analyzing primary succession under different ecological systems is critical to understand the role of AM in this basic process. While volcanoes and glaciers are restricted to particular mountainous areas, naturally eroded areas and sand dunes are more common and easily accessible, making them attractive models to study primary succession. Z. Kikvidze

Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Forest Ecosystems of Brazil: A Review

“…Distribuition of AMF species should not be explained only based on host plant or biome probably because plants and microbial soil communities have close relationships that are associated with the soil fertility (Van Der Heijden et al, 2008;Burns et al, 2015;Bonfim et al, 2016;Casazza et al, 2017). AMF diversity can be lower and more homogeneous in fertile soils having high N/P ratio (Kikvidze et al, 2010). However, plant roots and AMF development adjust physiologically and morphologically according to the availability of P (Ushio et al, 2015, Vilcatoma-Medina et al, 2018.…”

“…Furthermore, although time is considered an inherent dimension when studying the primary succession (Kikvidze et al, 2010), this factor must be considered in the comparisons of diversity, as well as the spatial dimension and the mean. The time required to reach a climax forest in different forest ecosystems varies greatly, from about 30 years in a tropical forest to hundreds of years in boreal forests.…”

“…Increases in AMF-plant richness increase the abundance of hyphae in the soil, which in turn, increase the plant nutrient uptake and growth (Van Der Heijden et al, 2008). Therefore, there is a possible relationship between the richness of AMF and the composition of forest species in different environments and different forest succession (Janos, 1980a,b;Zangaro et al, 2000;Uibopuu et al, 2009;Kikvidze et al, 2010;Shi et al, 2016). AMF colonization is ubiquitous as they were found in dunes (Assis et al, 2016), mangroves (Hu et al, 2015), salt environments (Evelin et al, 2009;Elhindi et al, 2017), among others.…”

Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, fertilization and seed rates influence growth and development of lyme grass seedlings in two desert areas in Iceland

“…As a result, facultative mycotrophic plants have a vital role during primary succession and provide an opportunity for the arrival of mutualistic fungi, which, in turn, make it possible for obligatorily mycotrophic plants to become established (Cázares et al 2005, Kikvidze et al 2010.…”

“…Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) is globally the most common type of mycorrhizae, estimated to be associated with 74% of all plant species (van der Heijden et al 2015). AM is often present at the early start of primary succession, being infrequent and perhaps inconsequential at first but later having a dominating influence on plant development (Kikvidze et al 2010). Like other types of mycorrhizae, AM fungi (AMF) can reach a larger volume of soil than un-colonized roots and provide a better access to slowly soluble forms of soil nutrients, particularly P (Smith & Read 2008), but also organic soil N (Hodge & Storer 2015).…”