Distribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in Terceira and São Miguel Islands (Azores).

BACKGROUND

The data, presented here, come from samples collected during three research projects which aimed to assess the impact of land-use type on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) diversity and community composition in pastures of Terceira Island (Azores, Macaronesia, Portugal) and also in the native forest of two Azorean Islands (Terceira and São Miguel; Azores, Macaronesia, Portugal). Both projects contributed to improving the knowledge of AMF community structure at both local and regional scales.

NEW INFORMATION

Little is known on the AMF communities from Azores islands and this study reports the first survey in two Azorean Islands (Terceira and São Miguel). A total of 18,733 glomeromycotan spores were classified at the species level from 244 field soil samples collected in three different habitat types - native forests (dominated by and ), semi-natural and intensively-managed pastures. Thirty-seven distinct spore morphotypes, representing ten glomeromycotan families, were detected. Species of the family dominated the samples, with 13 species (38% of the taxa), followed by (6 spp.), (4 spp.), (3 spp.), (3 spp.), (3 spp.), and , both with the same number of AMF species (2 spp.), (1 sp.) and (family insertae sedis). Members of the family occurred almost exclusively in the native forests especially associated with the rhizosphere, while members of family showed a high tendency to occupy the semi-natural pastures and the native forests of . Members of family were broadly distributed by all types of habitat which confirm the high ecological plasticity of this AMF family to occupy the more diverse habitats.