Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in agroecosystems of east-central Argentina: Two agricultural practices effects on taxonomic groups

Abstract

Soil is one of the main reservoirs of biodiversity on earth due to its physical, chemical, and microclimatic heterogeneity; in particular, it harbors a great diversity of microbial communities. Changes in land uses for crop production, mainly those that involve intense agricultural management, threaten soil diversity, compromising global ecosystem functioning and services. In this chapter, we give an up-to-date overview of the effect of two no-till agricultural practices (crop rotation (CR) versus soybean monocropping (MC)) on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities by gathering our data of five geographical locations of East-Central Argentina. The diversity was described considering AMF classification and functioning based on the morphological traits and ontogeny of spores. In addition, we analyzed our data considering three taxonomic categories: morphospecies, families, and orders. Fifty-nine AMF morphospecies were identified throughout the five geographical locations, and CR soils showed the highest AMF richness and spore density and the lowest evenness. Funneliformis mosseae and Glomus sp.4 morphospecies and Glomerales were significant indicators for CR. For MC, Acaulosporaceae and Diversisporales were significant indicators. Soil variables influenced the relative abundance of AMF depending on the family and order. Percentage of organic carbon and nitrogen was positively associated with CR and negatively with MC. Overall, no-till agricultural practices showed differences in their soil AMF communities and chemical properties, and management systems that include practices based on CR promote greater richness of AMF morphospecies.