NATIVE ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL COMMUNITY COMPOSITION FROM BARTIN PROVINCE, TURKEY

Abstract

The variety of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) under the different forest stands is significant in terms of forest and rangeland ecosystems. In this study, dependent upon the morphological analyses, the diversity of the AMF within the pure oak forest (POF), fir-beech forest (FBF) stands, and gap in forest (GF) soils were compared in Bartin Province, Black Sea Region in northwestern of Turkey. The AMF community composition in POF, FBF and GF soil samples showed variation. Soil organic carbon, available P, number of AMF spores, species richness, diversity index, and dominance index were the main parameters differing among the three studied environments. In particular, the most prevalent order in these soils was Glomerales. The most frequent AMF genus in the soils of all these fields was Glomus. Varieties in AMF diversity were due to the: (1) changes in soil characteristics (e.g. soil available P and organic carbon); and (2) plant communities in the study fields. These findings support the detailed knowledge of AMF community compositions in soils from Turkey, and introduce new comprehension in order to analyze the ecological processes including the AMF species and native plant species in the northwestern Black Sea Region of Turkey.