Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spore communities of a tropical dry forest ecosystem show resilience to land-use change

We explored the resilience of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) communities of a tropical dry forest ecosystem to land use as pastures. We compared spore community species richness, composition, abundance, and similarity between old-growth forests and active pastures, as a measure of resistance and examined the trajectory of change in successional fields when pasture use stopped to evaluate recovery. Despite a few changes in species richness, community composition and structure were strikingly similar in all sites, including the active pastures. The spore communities were considered resistant to land use as pastures and showed minor changes along succession when management stopped. We found a significant negative relation between the frequency of Diversisporales and Glomerales indicating a selective species turnover driven mainly by the families Gigasporaceae and Glomeraceae. This was, however, unrelated to land use or successional time. These results suggest the AMF communities of this ecosystem seem resilient to management as pastures.