Growth of Argentine mesquite inoculated with vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Abstract

Prosopis alba seedlings were inoculated with the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Glomus intraradices, and container-grown for five months. After transplanting, mesquite trees were either drip irrigated at regular intervals or nonirrigated for one year. Higher levels of VAM fungal colonization occurred in roots of irrigated mesquite. While irrigation promoted mesquite shoot growth, VAM inoculation inhibited shoot growth of nonirrigated trees. VAM fungi promoted the growth of thinner roots for irrigated trees and thicker roots for nonirrigated trees after six months. At the conclusion of the study, root growth was enhanced by drip irrigation and was not affected by previous VAM fungal inoculation. -from Authors