Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi infection in desert riparian forest and its environmental implications: A case study in the lower reach of Tarim River

This study was conducted on the desert riparian forest along the lower reach of the inland Tarim River, which is located in the arid region of Northwest China. Fifteen plant species in 10 families were collected from five monitoring sections, and examined for the infection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The impact of different soil factors on AMF infection rate and intensity was compared using the principal component analysis (PCA) method. The results indicate that 11 species are AM and only 4 are non-AM plants. The estimated capacity of AMF infection depends on families of plants and also the parameters (infection rate, infection intensity, fungal spore density) used. The density of fungal spores was relatively higher in Phragmites communis and Populus euphratica in Graminaceae and Salicaceae families, respectively. The infection rate was above 50% in all the AM plants, except Calligonum junceum. The highest infection rate appeared in Alhagi sparsifolia (97%) and Glycyrrhiza inflata (92%). However, when compared by AMF infection intensity, Tamarix spp. became the top one, followed by Alhagi sparsifolia, and Glycyrrhiza inflata was in the middle range of all the species. The PCA has identified that soil total salt, moisture, organic matter, total nitrogen, total P, available K and pH were closely associated with the AMF infection.