Mycorrhizal fungi in peatland

Abstract

Peatland forest areas have been decreasing due to conversion of forests into farm land, the use of shifting cultivation on a large scale, illegal logging, opencast mining, and forest fires. Numerous studies of tropical forests have indicated that many native tree species were colonized by the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi. Mycorrhizal fungal diversity is higher in tropical forests than in other forests, and colonization of mycorrhizal fungi improves plant growth of many tree species grown in the tropical forests. Survival rates of colonized seedlings of tree species are higher than those of non-colonized seedlings. Inoculation of mycorrhizal fungi at the nursery stage is a useful technique for largescale remediation programs of degraded tropical forests. Selection of appropriate combinations of native tree species and mycorrhizal fungal species is also important for remediation of degraded peatland.