Nitrogen Addition Does Not Change AMF Colonization but Alters AMF Composition in a Chinese Fir (<i>Cunninghamia lanceolata</i>) Plantation

Abstract

Aims: Our aim was to investigate how N addition affects arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) growth in Chinese fir plantations. Methods: A Chinese fir plantation was treated with four different N addition treatments for one and half years starting in April 2019. AMF colonization, hyphal length density, community composition, and soil properties were under measurement. Results: N addition caused inapparent effects on AMF colonization, hyphal length density, and functional guilds (rhizophilic, edaphophilic, and ancestral). The predominant AMF species in the soil was Septoglomus viscosum. N addition altered AMF community and some rare species (e.g., Entrophospora infrequens) disappeared with N addition. Conclusion: AMF community structure was more sensitive to short-time N deposition than the symbiotic relationship between AMF and host plants.

Keywords

• N addition
• arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
• community composition
• colonization
• Chinese fir