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• Contents
• Plant Interactions
• Introduction
• Mycorrhizas
  • Introduction
  • Arbuscular Mycorrhiza
    • Symbionts
      • The Fungi
      • Taxonomy
      • The Plants
      • Nonmycorrhizal Plants
      • Conclusion
      • Questions
    • In Plants & Soil
      • Introduction
      • Types of AM
      • Formation of AM
      • Colonisation of Soil
      • Survival in Soil
      • Conclusion
      • Questions
    • Soil Aggregation
      • Introduction
      • Aggregation
      • Conclusion
      • Questions
    • Root Colonisation
      • Introduction
      • Develoment of Colonisation
      • Fungal Factors
      • Quantification
      • Colonisation & Fungal Quantity
      • Conclusion
      • Questions
    • Mineral Uptake of Plants
      • Introduction
      • Root Uptake of Minerals
      • Maximum Efficiency & Plant Mechanisms
      • AM Fungi & Uptake of P
      • AM & Uptake of Other Minerals
      • Conclusion
      • Questions
    • Response to Irradiance
      • Introduction
      • Removal of Carbon From Host
      • Improved Nutrition
      • Distribution of Carbon in Soil
      • Distribution of Carbon Between Plants
      • Conclusion
      • Questions
    • Rehabilitation of Habitat
  • Ectomycorrhiza
    • EM Symbionts
      • Introduction
      • The Fungi
      • The Plants
    • EM Colonisation
      • Introduction
      • Precolonisation
      • Colonisation
      • Anatomy
    • EM Function
      • Introduction
      • Mineral Uptake
      • Control of Uptake
      • Energy
      • Nutrient Movement in Thallus
      • Nutrient Transfer Between Plants
      • Conclusion
  • Ericoid Mychorrhiza
    • Symbionts
      • Host Plants
      • The Fungi
      • Conclusion
    • Function
      • Introduction
      • Plant Growth
      • Colonisation
      • Uptake of Minerals
      • Conclusion
  • Orchid Mycorrhiza
    • Symbionts
      • Plants
      • Fungi
      • Conclusions
    • Function
      • Introduction
      • Germination of Seed
      • Nutrient Exchange
      • Control of Colonisation
      • The Process of Colonisation
      • Specificity
      • Conclusion
      • Questions
  • Atypical Mycorrhiza
    • Gentianaceae
    • Thysanotus
    • Nonmycorrhizal Plants
    • Conclusions
• Endophytes
• Lichen
• Plant Pathology

Rehabilitation of Habitat

An Opinion: Application of AM to Rehabilitation of Habitats

Sketch of soil with seedling and attached AM fungus.

AM fungi have diverse attributes: they increase plant uptake of nonlabile minerals and water from soil, aggregate soils with a loamy to clay loam texture, increase the carbon and complexity of carbon passing from plant to soil, and change the pattern of root development, among other factors. Increased uptake of minerals will lead to faster rates of growth of responsive plants in mineral poor soils. Aggregation of soil will lead to faster rates of water penetration, maintenance of water holding capacity and aeration of soil. Changes in the distribution of roots will increase the benefit attributable to AM fungi, and determine the location of survival propagules of AM fungi in the soil profile. Altogether, presence of AM fungi will initiate increased mineral uptake and establish a cycling of minerals between the soil and host plant.

Different seedlings interconnected by different coloured AM fungi.

AM fungi influence the composition of the plant community that is established. Nonmycorrhizal plant species tend to be suppressed in the presence of the fungi. However, complex fungal communities appear to promote greater complexity in mycorrhizal plant communities, that as a consequence also produce greater plant biomass. In other words, more plant species survive and increased total organic carbon is fixed. This is despite the cost to the plant of supplying organic carbon to the fungal symbiont. The mechanisms underlying these influences are unclear. However, the data indicate that the complexity of natural plant communities will be attained much more rapidly if AM fungi are included in the outplanting stage. These attributes of AM fungi indicate that AM fungi must be considered during the restoration of severely disturbed habitats.

Figure of multiple plants, multiple fungi and small animals.

Deliberate inoculation of seedlings or soil is necessary to ensure the establishment and survival of AM fungi. Natural dispersal of these fungi into highly disturbed areas is slow, and the fungi that disperse may not necessarily provide greatest benefit to the plant community. Further, deliberate inoculation allows the use of fungi which have other roles in the community. For instance, small animals that utilise fungal sporocarps in their diet will return much sooner because a food source has become available. Thus the complex habitats in natural ecosystems may be established much more rapidly.

Cleared land.

Rehabilitated site.

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