Characterization of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi of livestock soils in tropical lowlands and tropical highlands in the department of Antioquia, Colombia

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) stand out for their ecological function of unblocking and solubilizing soil nutrients and for their influence on the stability of ecosystems, where edaphic conditions are extreme. In this work, the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi present in soils of the high tropic and low tropic livestock systems in Antioquia were characterized and the relationship between the number of spores, the colonization percentage, the diversity of the AMF genera and some physical and chemical soil conditions were explored. Correlations were observed between the density of spores with Ca (-0.659), Mg (-0.715), K (-0.808), P (-0.704) and pH (-0.735) in Magdalena Medio, as well as between the percentage of colonization by HMA and K (0.719) in the North of Antioquia. The presence of the genus Glomus was determined as the most predominant (75-100%) in the two subregions studied. The genera Acaulospora spp and Gigaspora spp were also found in lesser amounts in high topical soils. The results indicate that the climatic characteristics of the zones studied and the type of pastures that prevail there facilitate the development and establishment of different types of arbuscular mycorrhizas to the different soils and a greater capacity to establish the symbiotic relationship with a greater number of species of plants.