Effect of indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal endophytes on the development of six wild plants colonizing a semi-arid area in south-east Spain.

The effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) an six plant species that frequently grow in areas of Mediterranean climate in south-east Spain was studied. In semi-arid soils, the most abundant AMF was Glomus aggregation Schenck and Smith, followed by Glomus mosseae (Nicol. and Gerd.) Gerd. and Trappe. The vascular plant species studied were Dittrichia viscosa (L.) W. Greuter (Asteraceae); Dactylis glomerata L., Piptatherum miliaceum (L.) Cosson, and Slipa tenacissima L. (Poaceae); Retama sphaerocarpa (L.) Boiss., and Ulex parviflorus Pourret (Fabaceae). Legumes were studied with single and dual symbiosis (Rhizobium and AMF). In a greenhouse experiment, inoculated plants developed better than noninoculared controls, as shown by dry weight and tissue N and P content. Plants inoculated with G. aggregation grew better than plants inoculated with G. mosseae. For this reason G. aggregatum was chosen for a field experiment, in which this AM fungus increased shoot dry mass, shoot length, and percent survival after transplantation. The effects of soil microorganisms on development, survival and fertility of native plants, their influence on the effects of the erosion, and their importance in plant repopulation programmes are discussed.