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Dynamics of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Associated with Desert Ephemeral Plants in Gurbantunggut Desert

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Dynamics of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Associated with Desert Ephemeral Plants in Gurbantunggut Desert Journal of Arid Land Volume 4 Issue 1 Article 6 3-5-2012 Dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with desert ephemeral plants in Gurbantunggut Desert Tao ZHANG 1 College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; ChangYan TIAN 2 Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; Yu SUN 3 Institute of Crop Tillage and Cultivation, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150030, China; Follow this and additional works at: https://egijournals.researchcommons.org/journal-of-arid-land Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation ZHANG, Tao; TIAN, ChangYan; and SUN, Yu (2012) "Dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with desert ephemeral plants in Gurbantunggut Desert," Journal of Arid Land: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 6. DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1227.2012.00042 Available at: https://egijournals.researchcommons.org/journal-of-arid-land/vol4/iss1/6 This Research Article is brought to you for free and open access by Journals of EGI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Arid Land by an authorized editor of Journals of EGI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with desert ephemeral plants in Gurbantunggut Desert Cover Page Footnote This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30770341) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (the WATERCOPE project, I-R-1284). This research article is available in Journal of Arid Land: https://egijournals.researchcommons.org/journal-of-arid- land/vol4/iss1/6 Journal of Arid Land 2012, 4(1): 43−51 doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1227.2012.00042 Science Press jal.xjegi.com; www.chinasciencejournal.com Dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with desert ephemeral plants in Gurbantunggut Desert Tao ZHANG1, ChangYan TIAN2, Yu SUN3, DengSha BAI4, Gu FENG1∗ 1 College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; 2 Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; 3 Institute of Crop Tillage and Cultivation, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150030, China; 4 Institute of Nuclear and Biotechnology, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Urumqi 830091, China Abstract: Previous studies documented that most desert plants can be colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, however, little is known about how the dynamics of AM fungi are related to ephemerals in desert ecosystems. The dynamics of AM fungi with desert ephemerals were examined to determine the effects of host plant life stages on the development of AM fungi. Mean colonization of ephemeral annual plants was 45% lower than that of ephemeral perennial plants. The colonizations were much higher in the early part of the growing season than in later parts, peaking at flowering times. The phenology of AM fungi in root systems varied among different ephem- erals. The density of AM fungal spores increased with the development of ephemeral annual plants, reached its maximum at flowering times, and then plateaued about 20 days after the aboveground senescence. A significant positive correlation was found between AM fungi spore density and biomass of ephemeral annual plants. The life cycles of AM fungi associated with desert ephemerals were very short, being about 60–70 days. Soil temperature and water content had no direct influence on the development of AM fungal spores. We concluded that the devel- opment of AM fungi was in response to desert ephemeral phenology and life history strategy. Keywords: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; Gurbantunggut Desert; ephemeral annual plants; ephemeral perennial plants; dynamics; phenology; mycorrhizal colonization; spore density Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are important shifting phenology between C3 and C4 coexistence components of virtually all terrestrial ecosystems and species. It has been reported that divergent phenolo- are especially critical in improving plant nutrient and gies may facilitate the coexistence of AM fungi in a water uptake under arid conditions (Allen, 1989; 2007; North Carolina grassland (Pringle and Bever, 2002). 2011). In some extreme environments, some plants Other researchers reported that soil type, tillage, fertil- can not survive without AM fungi (Pennisi, 2004). AM ity, pH and rainfall can influence the AM fungi diver- fungi also enhance plant competitive ability and de- sity and density (Hayman, 1982; Douds et al., 1995; termine community structure and ecosystem stability Clark, 1997; Gaidashova et al., 2010; Oehl et al., (van der Heijden et al., 1998; O'Connor et al., 2002; 2010). However, how AM fungi respond to environ- Hart et al., 2003). Despite the key role of AM in plant mental stress and life-history strategies of host plant is growth and ecosystem stabilization, the strategy of not clear. AM fungi in terms of survival and development in AM fungi are considered to be critical for the sur- wildland ecosystems is not well understood. vival of plants in arid environments (Allen and Allen, A number of studies have demonstrated that host 1988; Berliner et al., 1989; Cui and Nobel, 1992; Titus plant species can affect the community composition et al., 2002). Early studies found that most ephemeral and diversity of AM fungi (Johnson et al., 2004; Received 2011-07-18; accepted 2011-10-27 Hausmann, 2009). Allen et al. (1984) first reported *Corresponding author: Gu FENG (E-mail: [email protected]) 44 JOURNAL OF ARID LAND Vol. 4 plants formed AM in Gurbantunggut Desert (Shi et al., Ephedra distachya, a small shrub, distributes in inter- 2006; Tian et al., 2006), and that mycorrhizae can im- dune lands. Annual herbs are distributed understory of prove growth, promote P uptake，advance the flow- shrubs. In spring, ephemeral plants are dominant in the ering times and increase seed production of ephemer- community. als Erodium oxyrrhynchum and Plantago minuta (Sun The ‘ephemerals’ we used here include both annual et al., 2008). AM fungi are obligate biotrophs whose and perennial species，which have a short growing development depends on mutualistic association with season. Most ephemeral annual plants complete host plant roots. AM fungi spores complete a life span growth and reproduction in about 2 months from early (from spore germination to new mature sporulation) in spring (late March) to early summer (late May). As to about 100–120 days in pot culture (http:// invam.caf. ephemeral perennial plants, the aboveground parts wvu). But life spans of ephemeral plants are only usually senesce at the end of the growing season while about 2 months in Gurbantunggut Desert (Wang, the belowground structures (bulbs, corms, or tubers) 1993), and whether AM fungal spores can complete enter a period of dormancy until the next sprouting. their life cycles in such a short period of time is not The ephemerals are an important part of plant com- clear. Furthermore, the annual precipitation in Gur- munity in Gurbantunggut Desert. In early spring, the bantunggut Desert is 70–150 mm, while annual ephemerals can form synusia, and the mean cover of evaporation is more than 2,000 mm. The effects of ephemerals can reach 40.2% in May, with a mean these extreme environmental factors on development plant height of 10–20 cm (Zhang and Chen, 2002; of AM fungi are not well understood. A better under- Wang et al., 2003). Ephemeral plants play a key role standing of the growth and development of AM fungi in sand dune stabilization (Wang et al., 2003). Besides, and plants in field would help us to understand the the ephemerals are important pasture and supply much adaptation strategy of AM fungi to environmental fodder for livestock in early spring (Zhang, 2002). stress. 1.2 Collection of soil and plant samples We hypothesized that the development and phenol- ogy of ephemerals can determine the growth of AM Four important ephemeral plant species were investi- fungi. Specifically, AM fungi spores can complete gated in our experiment, including two ephemeral an- their life cycles for long term coevolution with nual plants Erodium oxyrrhynchum and Trigonella ephemeral plants. arcuata, two ephemeral perennial plants Gagea saccu- lifera and Ixiolirion tataricum. To test whether AM 1 Materials and methods fungi can transfer host from ephemeral annual plants to perennial plants after ephemerals finish their lives, 1.1 Study area one perennial plant Artemisia songarica which grew Gurbantunggut Desert, a fixed and semi-fixed desert, nearby E. oxyrrhynchum and T. arcuata was selected. is located at the hinterland of the Junggar Basin The topsoil of ca. 1–2 cm was removed, and soil and (34°09′–49°08′N, 73°25′–96°24′E) in Xinjiang, north- plant samples were collected. Care was taken during western China. The annual accumulated temperature the collection of individual plants so that roots could varies between 3,000ºC and 3,500ºC. And the annual be positively identified as belonging to a particular precipitation is 70–150 mm with a mean of 143 mm, plant. The entire plants were dug out by trowel to en- which mainly distributes in spring and autumn. During sure that the roots remained connected to the shoots winter, the desert is usually covered by snow in more after sample collection. The samples were taken to the than 20 cm thickness. The annual evaporation in this laboratory for determination of AM root colonization. region is more than 2,000 mm (Wang et al., 2003). Soil samples (ca. 1,000 g) associated with the plants Soil moisture content in the topsoil (30 cm) is 2% to removed were collected. The soil samples were 5% in April and only 0.8% to 1.2% in May (Wang et air-dried before extraction, counting and identification al., 2004). Haloxylon persicum which grows on dunes of AM fungal spores. Soil water content, temperature is a constitutive species in the desert community.
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