TY - JOUR
T1 - Arbuscular mycorrhizal root colonization and soil P availability are positively related to agrodiversity in Mexican maize polycultures
AU - Negrete-Yankelevich, Simoneta
AU - Maldonado-Mendoza, Ignacio Eduardo
AU - Lázaro-Castellanos, Jesús Omar
AU - Sangabriel-Conde, Wendy
AU - Martínez-Álvarez, Juan Carlos
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments We are grateful to Dora Trejo, Vinicio Sosa Fernández, and Jose Luis Blanco for invaluable advice during the development of this research; to the farmers and local authorities of Ocotal Chico and Mazumiapan for actively participating and facilitating the project; to Isis de la Rosa for figure edition; and to two anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved the manuscript. This research was funded by the FOMIX 94427 project (CON-ACYT-Veracruz Government) as part of the BioPop project.
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - In Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, the local Popoluca people maintain the traditional management of their maize agroecosystems. However, it is not known whether the loss of agrodiversity over recent decades has affected mycorrhizal populations, nutrient availability, and crop productivity. This study utilized linear mixed effect models to analyze the relationship between agrodiversity (three, six, and greater than or equal to eight cultivated species) and (a) arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculum potential, measured as the most probable number (MPN) of propagules and colonization level, (b) nutrient availability, and (c) aboveground maize productivity. We also investigated the relationship between soil nutrient content and inoculum potential. Soil samples were taken before planting, and during flowering, in the 2009 maize cycle. We found that AMF colonization level of maize roots and P availability increased with planted species richness, but that this effect only occurred at the flowering sampling date. Plots with a higher MPN of propagules presented increased C and NO3- contents and lower C/N ratio than those with lower MPN of propagules, regardless of agrodiversity. Soils that produced the highest maize root colonization level also featured high P availability and N content. We conclude that decreased agrodiversity in these traditional systems does not significantly affect the soil MPN of propagules, but may have a negative impact on the ability of the mycorrhizal community to colonize maize roots, as well as reducing the availability of P, which is often the most limiting nutrient in tropical soils.
AB - In Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, the local Popoluca people maintain the traditional management of their maize agroecosystems. However, it is not known whether the loss of agrodiversity over recent decades has affected mycorrhizal populations, nutrient availability, and crop productivity. This study utilized linear mixed effect models to analyze the relationship between agrodiversity (three, six, and greater than or equal to eight cultivated species) and (a) arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculum potential, measured as the most probable number (MPN) of propagules and colonization level, (b) nutrient availability, and (c) aboveground maize productivity. We also investigated the relationship between soil nutrient content and inoculum potential. Soil samples were taken before planting, and during flowering, in the 2009 maize cycle. We found that AMF colonization level of maize roots and P availability increased with planted species richness, but that this effect only occurred at the flowering sampling date. Plots with a higher MPN of propagules presented increased C and NO3- contents and lower C/N ratio than those with lower MPN of propagules, regardless of agrodiversity. Soils that produced the highest maize root colonization level also featured high P availability and N content. We conclude that decreased agrodiversity in these traditional systems does not significantly affect the soil MPN of propagules, but may have a negative impact on the ability of the mycorrhizal community to colonize maize roots, as well as reducing the availability of P, which is often the most limiting nutrient in tropical soils.
KW - Inoculum potential
KW - Limiting phosphate
KW - Milpas
KW - Most probable number of propagules
KW - Plant richness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84872938994&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00374-012-0710-5
DO - 10.1007/s00374-012-0710-5
M3 - Artículo
SN - 0178-2762
VL - 49
SP - 201
EP - 212
JO - Biology and Fertility of Soils
JF - Biology and Fertility of Soils
IS - 2
ER -