Arbuscular mycorrhiza inoculum reduces root respiration and improves biomass accumulation of salt-stressed Ulmus glabra seedlings

In summary, our results indicate that commercial AM inoculate can prevent a major increase of root respiration under moderate NaCl stress, enabling trees to deploy more assimilated C for growth and, theoretically, defence mechanisms against other stress factors occurring in urban environments. Thus, a valuable strategy to reduced salt-induced stress of arbuscular mycorrhized urban trees is to make sure sufficient symbionts are available, e.g. by artificially supplying commercial AM inoculum to planting pits.