Arbuscular mycorrhizae from semiarid regions of Namibia

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizae from four sites in semiarid parts of Namibia were studied. In addition to areas with different rainfall, different land management systems are compared. High numbers of morphological species with a patchy distribution were recorded. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) sequences derived from grass roots are less diverse than the community of spores found in adjacent soil, indicating different AMF communities in grass roots during the vegetation period or different AMF communities in the roots of trees and herbs. The AMF community does not appear to be influenced by land management systems, but rather by vegetation cover or rainfall regime.Key words: Namibia, arbuscular mycorrhizae, molecular identification.