Track 2-09: Soil Quality, Biology and Plant-Soil Interactions
Description
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form a symbiotic association with more than 80% of terrestrial plants and benefit their hosts principally by increasing uptake of nutrients. This is particularly important for phosphorus uptakes as fungal extraradical mycelium can access relatively immobile phosphate ions through an ability to grow beyond the phosphate depletion zone that rapidly develops around the root (Gosling et al. 2006). This symbiotic association is known to promote growth and improve drought and disease resistance of the host plants (Gosling et al. 2006). Centipedegrass (Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro) Hack.) is a warm-season perennial that is native to central and southern China and is widely distributed in south-east Asia, southern USA, South America, West Indies, and parts of Africa and tropical north and east Australia (Islam and Hirata 2005). Centipedgegrass (CG) has been considered to be of potential value for use in low-input grassland systems in central to southern parts of Japan. An experiment conducted in a hill pasture in the mid-altitude region of Kyushu has shown that CG is well adapted to all slope aspects (north, east, south and west) despite the aspect differences in environmental conditions (Hirata et al. 2007). In this study, we monitored AM colonization of CG growing on the 4 slopes of the pasture to examine aspect differences in the grass–AMF association.
Included in
Effect of Slope Aspect on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Colonization of Centipedegrass in a Hill Pasture
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form a symbiotic association with more than 80% of terrestrial plants and benefit their hosts principally by increasing uptake of nutrients. This is particularly important for phosphorus uptakes as fungal extraradical mycelium can access relatively immobile phosphate ions through an ability to grow beyond the phosphate depletion zone that rapidly develops around the root (Gosling et al. 2006). This symbiotic association is known to promote growth and improve drought and disease resistance of the host plants (Gosling et al. 2006). Centipedegrass (Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro) Hack.) is a warm-season perennial that is native to central and southern China and is widely distributed in south-east Asia, southern USA, South America, West Indies, and parts of Africa and tropical north and east Australia (Islam and Hirata 2005). Centipedgegrass (CG) has been considered to be of potential value for use in low-input grassland systems in central to southern parts of Japan. An experiment conducted in a hill pasture in the mid-altitude region of Kyushu has shown that CG is well adapted to all slope aspects (north, east, south and west) despite the aspect differences in environmental conditions (Hirata et al. 2007). In this study, we monitored AM colonization of CG growing on the 4 slopes of the pasture to examine aspect differences in the grass–AMF association.
