Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T07:38:41.562Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Field trials assessing the effect of inoculating agricultural soils with endomycorrhizal fungi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

I. R. Hall
I. R. Hall
Affiliation:
Invermay Agricultural Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Private Bag, Mosgiel, New Zealand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Four field experiments were established to gauge the effect of inoculating white clover with selected strains of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi. The four sites chosen ranged in fertility from undeveloped, phosphorus-impoverished tussock grassland to high fertility alluvial flats. As far as practicable conventional agronomic practices were followed prior to and during sowing. The soils were otherwise untreated and contained the normal complement of indigenous VAM fungi. Infested soil pellets were used to introduce the fungi into the soils as this was considered more appropriate to pastoral farming than for example transplanting infected seedlings.

Initially the introduced fungi tended to have little or no effect on dry-matter yields but by the end of the first season there were significant responses to Gigaspora margarita, Glomus mosseae, Glomus macrocarpum or a mixed inoculum of Glomus pallidum and Glomus tenue. In the second season, dry-matter yields were increased on the two tussock grassland sites by up to 760 kg D.M./ha (ca. 30%), 825 kg D.M./ha on the moderately fertile site (14%) and 640 kg D.M./ha (5%) on the high fertility site. The growth responses tended to decrease with time probably owing to the spread of fungi from the inoculated to the control plots though growth responses were still present at the end of the 3rd year on two of the sites. Within each experiment the application of up to 50 kg P/ha per year did not reduce the size of the responses to inoculation. This and herbage chemical analyses suggested that a more efficient use of phosphatic fertilizers may have been only part of the reason for the responses to inoculation.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 102 , Issue 3 , June 1984 , pp. 725 - 731
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, L. K. & Robson, A. D. (1977). Growth stimulation of subterranean clover with vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizas. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 28, 639–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abbott, L. K. & Robson, A. D. (1982). The role of vesicular arbuseular mycorrhizal fungi in agriculture and the selection of fungi for inoculation. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 33, 389–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abott, L. K., Robson, A. D. & Hall, I. R. (1983). Introduction of vesioular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi into agricultural soils. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 34, 741–749.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldwell, F. E. B., Hall, I. R. & Smith, J. M. B. (1983). Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to identify endomycorrhizal fungi. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 15, 377–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornforth, I. S. & Sinclair, A. G. (1982). Fertilisers and Lime Recommendations for Pastures and Crops in New Zealand, pp. 1–66. Wellington: Agricultural Research and Advisory Services Divisions, New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.Google Scholar
Hall, I. R. (1977). Species and mycorrhizal infections of New Zealand Endogonaceae. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 68, 341–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, I. R. (1978). Effects of endomycorrhizas on the competitive ability of white clover. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 21, 509–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, I. R. (1980). Growth of Lotus pedunculatus Cav. in an eroded soil containing soil pellets infested with endomycorrhizal fungi. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 23, 103–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, I. R. (1984). Effect of inoculant endomycorrhizal fungi on white clover growth in soil cores. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 102, 719–723.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, I. R. & Kelson, A. (1981). An improved technique for the production of endomycorrhizal infested soil pellets. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 24, 221–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, I. R., Scott, R. S. & Johnstone, P. D. (1977). Effect of vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizas on response of ‘Grasslands Huia’ and ‘Tamar’ white clovers to phosphorus. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 20, 349–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayman, D. S. & Mosse, B. (1979). Improved growth of white clover in hill grasslands by mycorrhizal inoculation. Annals of Applied Biology 93, 141–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, P. N. (1977). Mycorrhizal Endogonaceae in a New Zealand forest. New Phytologist 78, 161–170.Google Scholar
Lambert, D. H., Cole, H. Jr. & Baker, D. E. (1980). Adaptation of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae to edaphic factors. New Phytologist 85, 513–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mosse, B. (1972). The influence of soil type and Endogone strain on the growth of mycorrhizal plants in phosphate deficient soils. Revue d' Écologie et de Biologie du Sol 9, 529–537.Google Scholar
Mosse, B. (1975). Specificity in VA mycorrhizas. In Endomycorrhizas (ed. Sanders, F. E., Mosse, B. and Tinker, P. B.), pp. 469–484. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Mountier, N. S., Grigg, J. L. & Oomen, G. A. C. (1966). Sources of error in laboratory soil tests. 1. Laboratory sources. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 9, 328–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
New Zealand Soil Bureau (1968). General survey of the soils of the South Island, New Zealand. Bulletin N.Z. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Soil Bureau 27, 1–404.Google Scholar
Olsen, R., Cole, C. V., Watanabe, F. S. & Dean, L. A. (1954). Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with NaHCO3. Circular No. 939, United States Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Owusu-Bennoah, E. & Mosse, B. (1979). Plant growth responses to vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza. XI. Field inoculation responses in barley, lucerne and onion. New Phytologist 83, 671–679.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, C. Ll. (1981). Inoculation of barley with efficient mycorrhizal fungi stimulates seed yield. Plant and Soil 59, 487–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, C. Ll. (1982). Selection of efficient VA mycorrhizal fungi. Plant and Soil 68, 3–9.Google Scholar
Powell, C. Ll. & Daniel, J. (1978). Growth of white clover in undisturbed soils after inoculation with efficient mycorrhizal fungi. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 21, 675–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rangeley, A. (1980). The nutrient requirement of white clover on hill soils. Ph.D. thesis, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Rangeley, A., Daft, M. J. & Newbould, P. (1982). The inoculation of white clover with mycorrhizal fungi in unsterile hill soils. New Phytologist 92, 89–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saunders, W. M. H. (1965). Phosphate retention by New Zealand soils and its relationship to free sesquioxides, organic matter and other soil properties. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 8, 30–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schenck, N. C. & Kellam, M. K. (1978). The Influence of Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae on Disease Development, pp. 1–16. Gainesville: Bulletin 798 (technical), Agricultural Experiments Stations, University of Florida.Google Scholar
Sparling, G. P. (1976). Effects of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas on Pennine grassland vegetation. Ph.D. thesis, University of Leeds.Google Scholar
Stribley, D. P., Tinker, P. B. & Rayner, J. W. (1980). Relation of internal phosphorus concentration and plant weight in plants infected by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas. New Phytologist 86, 261–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. M., Trinick, M. J. & Parker, C. A. (1983). The identification of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas using immunofluorescence. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 15, 439–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar