Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T02:15:34.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An overwintering cover crop increases inoculum of VAM fungi in agricultural soil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

L. Galvez ,
D.D. Douds Jr ,
P. Wagoner ,
L.R. Longnecker ,
L.E. Drinkwater  and
R.R. Janke
L. Galvez
Affiliation:
L. Galvez is a postdoctoral research associate, Agriculture Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118;
D.D. Douds Jr
Affiliation:
Microbiologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118;
P. Wagoner
Affiliation:
Agronomist, Rodale Institute Research Center, 611 Siegfriedale Road, Kutztown, PA 19530.
L.R. Longnecker
Affiliation:
Technician, Rodale Institute Research Center, 611 Siegfriedale Road, Kutztown, PA 19530.
L.E. Drinkwater
Affiliation:
Agronomy Coordinator, Rodale Institute Research Center, 611 Siegfriedale Road, Kutztown, PA 19530.
R.R. Janke
Affiliation:
Center Director, Rodale Institute Research Center, 611 Siegfriedale Road, Kutztown, PA 19530.
Get access

Abstract

We conducted a field experiment within a low-input reduced tillage trial to determine how a cover crop affects inoculum levels of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi. Plots with and without the hairy vetch cover crop were established on September 30, 1993, under moldboard plow (MP), chisel-disk (CD), and no-till (NT) treatments in low-input (LI) management, and MP in conventional (CONV) management. We conducted a 3-week colonization assay in the greenhouse with bahiagrass seedlings to assess the relative colonization potential of the soils in the fall and following spring. Hairy vetch roots were colonized by indigenous VAM fungi by 65 days after planting, with plants from NT being more colonized than plants from MP or CD plots. Spore populations were greater in the LI than in the CONV system. The beneficial effect of the cover crop on VAM spore populations in soil was manifested in the spring, with the Glomus type group more abundant in plots with cover than without it. The greenhouse bioassay showed that colonization potential of spring 1994 soil samples was higher in plots with cover than without cover for both the LI and CONV systems. Just one season of an overwintering cover crop of hairy vetch increased the inoculum of VAM fungi the following spring before the next cash crop was planted.

Keywords

cover crophairy vetchsustainable agriculturecrop rotationscrop diversity
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , December 1995 , pp. 152 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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

1.An, Z-Q., Grove, J.H., Hendrix, J.W., Hershman, D.E., and Henson, G.T.. 1990. Vertical distribution of endogenaceous mycorrhizal fungi associated with soybean as affected by soil fumigation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 22:715–719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Davies, F.T., Potter, J.R., and Linderman, R.G.. 1992. Mycorrhiza and repeated drought exposure affect drought resistance and extraradical hyphae development of pepper plants independent of plant size and nutrient content. J. Plant Physiology 139:289–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Douds, D.D., Galvez, L., Janke, R.R., and Wagoner, P.. 1995. Effect of tillage and farming system upon populations and distribution of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Agric, Ecosystems and Environment 52:111–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Douds, D.D., Janke, R.R., and Peters, S.E.. 1993. VAM fungus spore populations and colonization of roots of maize and soybean under conventional and low-input sustainable agriculture. Agric, Ecosystems and Environment 43:325–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Douds, D.D., and Schenck, N.C.. 1990. Increased sporulation of vesiculararbuscular mycorrhizal fungi by manipulation of nutrient regimes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 56:413–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Douds, D.D., and Schenck, N.C.. 1991. Germination and hyphal growth of VAM fungi during and after storage in soil at five matric potentials. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 23:177–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Frey, B., and Schuepp, H.. 1993. Acquisition of nitrogen by external hyphae of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with Zea mays L. New Phytologist 124:221–230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Gerdemann, J.W., and Nicolson, T.H.. 1963. Spores of mycorrhizal Endogone species extracted by wet sieving and decanting. Trans. British Mycological Soc. 46:235–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Harinikumar, K.M., and Bagyaraj, D.J.. 1988. Effect of crop rotation on native vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal propagules in soil. Plant and Soil 110:77–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Harley, J.R. 1989. The significance of mycorrhiza. New Phytologist 92:129–139.Google Scholar
11.Jenkins, W.R. 1964. A rapid centrifugalflotation technique for separating nematodes from soil. Plant Disease Reporter 73:288–300.Google Scholar
12.Kurle, J.E., Pfleger, F.L., and Crookston, R.K.. 1991. The effect of management and edaphic factors on vesiculararbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) populations in a corn-soybean rotation. Phytopathology 81:1210 (abstract).Google Scholar
13.Limonard, T., and Ruissen, M.A.. 1989. The significance of VA-mycorrhiza to future arable farming in the Netherlands. Netherlands J. Plant Pathology 95 (suppl. 1):129–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.McGonigle, T.P., Evans, D.G., and Miller, M.H.. 1990. Effect of degree of soil disturbance on mycorrhizal colonization and phosphorus absorption by maize in growth chamber and field experiments. New Phytologist 116:629–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.McGonigle, T.P., and Miller, M.H.. 1993. Mycorrhizal development and phosphorus absorption in maize under conventional and reduced tillage. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 57:1002–1006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Nemec, S. 1987. Effect of storage temperature and moisture on Glomus species and their subsequent effect on citrus rootstock seedling growth and mycorrhiza development. Trans. British Mycological Soc. 89:205–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Newman, E.I. 1966. A method of estimating the total length of root in a sample. J. Applied Ecology 3:139–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Phillips, J.M., and Hayman, D.S.. 1970. Improved procedures for clearing roots and staining parasitic and vesiculararbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for rapid assessment of infection. Trans. British Mycological Soc. 55:158–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Rabatin, S.C., and Stinner, B.R.. 1989. The significance of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-soil macroinvertebrate interactions in agroecosystems. Agric., Ecosystems and Environment 27:195–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Rhodes, L.H., and Gerdemann, J.W.. 1975. Phosphate uptake zones of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal onions. New Phytologist 75:555–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Sarrantonio, M. 1994. Northeast Cover Crop Handbook. Soil Health Series. Rodale Institute, Emmaus, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
22.Sattelmacher, B., Reinhard, S., and Pomikalko, A.. 1991. Differences in mycorrhizal colonization of rye (Secale cereale L.) grown in conventional or organic biological-dynamic farming systems. J. Agronomy and Crop Sci., 167:350–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Schenck, N.C. 1987. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the control of fungal root diseases. In Chet, I. (ed). Innovative Approaches to Plant Disease Control. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y. pp. 179–191.Google Scholar
24.Sieverding, E. 1991. Vesicular-arbuscular Mycorrhiza Management in Tropical Agrosystems. Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Eschborn, Germany, p. 31.Google Scholar
25.Thompson, J.P. 1987. Decline of vesiculararbuscular mycorrhizae in long fallow disorder of field crops and its expression in phosphorus deficiency of sunflower. Australian J. Agric. Research 38:847–867.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Wagoner, P., Longnecker, L.R., and Janke, R.R.. 1993. The Low-input Reduced Tillage Trial at the Rodale Research Center. Four-year Summary 1988–1991. Rodale Institute Research Center, Kutztown, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar