COS 93-1 - Arbuscular mycorrhizal diversity along a deforestation gradient in the Amazon rainforest

Thursday, August 11, 2011: 8:00 AM
9AB, Austin Convention Center
Rebecca C. Mueller, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, Jorge Rodrigues, Biology, University of Texas, Arlington, Klaus Nusslein, Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA, Vivian Pellizari, Oceanography, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Brigitte Feigl, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, James M. Tiedje, Center for Microbial Ecology and Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI and Brendan Bohannan, Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Background/Question/Methods

Land use change is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide, but the response of mycorrhizal diversity to land use change, such as deforestation, is not well understood in tropical ecosystems.  We examined the impact of deforestation on the taxonomic and phylogenetic richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, fungal symbionts found in association with most terrestrial plants, within the Amazon Basin using a chronosequence of land use types, including primary forest, pasture, and secondary forest.

Results/Conclusions

Loss of aboveground plant diversity due to deforestation was associated with decreased taxonomic richness and altered community composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.  Richness in secondary forest was significantly lower than primary forest, suggesting that altered arbuscular mycorrhizal communities may limit plant establishment in abandoned pasture.

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