Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi community in soils under desertification and restoration in the Brazilian semiarid

Danilo Ferreira da Silva; Jarlane Viana Moreira; Lara Isensee Saboya de Sousa; Maiele Cintra Santana; Jaedson Cláudio Anunciato Mota; Alexandre Dos Santos Queiroz; Ícaro Vasconcelos do Nascimento; Antonio Marcos Miranda Silva; Ademir Sérgio Ferreira de Araújo; Vania Maria Maciel Melo; Érika Valente de Medeiros; Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira Cardoso; Arthur Prudêncio de Araujo Pereira

doi:10.1016/j.micres.2022.127161

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi community in soils under desertification and restoration in the Brazilian semiarid

Microbiol Res. 2022 Nov:264:127161. doi: 10.1016/j.micres.2022.127161. Epub 2022 Aug 6.

Authors

Danilo Ferreira da Silva¹, Jarlane Viana Moreira², Lara Isensee Saboya de Sousa³, Maiele Cintra Santana⁴, Jaedson Cláudio Anunciato Mota⁵, Alexandre Dos Santos Queiroz⁵, Ícaro Vasconcelos do Nascimento⁵, Antonio Marcos Miranda Silva⁴, Ademir Sérgio Ferreira de Araújo⁶, Vania Maria Maciel Melo³, Érika Valente de Medeiros⁷, Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira Cardoso⁴, Arthur Prudêncio de Araujo Pereira⁸

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, Soil Science Department, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil; Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, Soil Science Department, 'Luiz de Queiroz' College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
² Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, Soil Science Department, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
³ Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Biotechnology, Biology Department, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
⁴ Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, Soil Science Department, 'Luiz de Queiroz' College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
⁵ Laboratory of Soil Physics, Soil Science Department, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
⁶ Laboratory of Soil Quality, Department of Agricultural Engineering and Soil Science, Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, PI, Brazil.
⁷ Microbiology and Enzymology Lab., Federal University of Agreste Pernambuco, Garanhuns, PE, Brazil.
⁸ Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, Soil Science Department, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. Electronic address: arthur.prudencio@ufc.br.

PMID: 35987172
DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2022.127161

Abstract

Soil desertification has a significant social, economic, and environmental impact worldwide. Mycorrhizal diversity remains poorly understood in semiarid regions impacted by desertification, especially in Brazilian drylands. More importantly, positive impacts of grazing exclusion on mycorrhizal communities are still incipient. Here, we hypothesized that overgrazing changes the structure of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) community compared to native areas and, grazing exclusion is effective to restore the AMF community. Thus, we analyzed the status of AMF community in soils under desertification (overgrazing) and restoration (twenty-years of grazing exclusion) in the Brazilian semiarid. AMF-spores were extracted via humid decantation methodology, morphologically classified, and alpha diversity metrics were calculated. Soil samples were chemically, and physically characterized and multivariate statistical analyses were applied to verify the impact of soil degradation and restoration on AMF-community. Briefly, native, and restored areas presented higher contents of organic matter, phosphorus, microbial carbon, and β-glucosidase activity. However, degraded soil showed higher Al³⁺, Na^+, and bulk soil density values. The abundance of AMF spores was higher in restored soil, followed by degraded and native vegetation, and Shannon's diversity index was significantly higher in restored soils, followed by native vegetation. AMF-spores were classified into four families (Gigasporaceae > Acaulosporaceae > Glomeraceae > Ambisporaceae). Ambisporaceae was closed correlated with degraded soil, mainly with Al³⁺, Na⁺, and bulk soil density properties. On the other hand, Acaulosporaceae and Glomeraceae were positively correlated with native vegetation and restored soil, respectively, thereby improving Shannon index, richness, enzyme activity, and soil respiration. Thus, grazing exclusion, in long term, can be a good strategy to restore AMF-diversity in soils in the Brazilian semiarid.

Keywords: Desertification; Drylands; Microbial ecology; Mycorrhizal symbiosis; Soil functions.

MeSH terms

Brazil
Conservation of Natural Resources
Fungi
Glomeromycota*
Humans
Mycorrhizae*
Plant Roots / microbiology
Soil / chemistry
Soil Microbiology
Spores, Fungal

Substances

Soil