Abstract
A combined laboratory and field study examined the potential for a symbiotic association between the actinorhizal shrub Myrica cerifera and vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi on a Virginia barrier island. M. cerifera seedlings and two test species, Zea mays and Strophostyles umbellata, were grown in an environmental chamber on soils collected from four sites differing in soil age (< 5 to over 130 years), salinity (1–35 μg/g total soil chloride), and edaphic characteristics. Seedling root infection was significantly lower for all three species in the youngest soils from the beach where salinity was highest. Stained M. cerifera roots revealed all the components for a functional VAM association; however, there were significantly fewer arbuscules and vesicles relative to the test species. Among field-collected M. cerifera, infection was not detected in mature shrubs from the bay side of the island, where M. cerifera thickets were in a state of degeneration. Infection was highest in soils from the young, developing thickets, and in the most stable thickets of the island interior. Despite the dynamic nature of the barrier island environment, VAM associations with M. cerifera appear to be present, especially in seedlings and developing shrub thickets.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen MF (1991) The ecology of mycorrhizae. Cambridge University Press, New York
Allen EB, Allen MF (1986) Water relations of xeric grasses in the field interactions of mycorrhizae and competition. New Phytol 104:559–571
Allen SE, Grimshaw HM, Rowland AP (1986) Chemical analysis. In: Moore PD, Chapman SB (eds) Methods in plant ecology. Blackwell, London, pp 285–344
Bolan NS (1991) A critical review on the role of mycorrhizal fungi on the uptake of phosphorus by plants. Plant Soil 134:189–207
Bonfante-Fasolo P, Scannerini S (1992) The cellular basis of plant-fungus interchanges in mycorrhizal associations. In: Allen MF (ed) Mycorrhizal functioning. Chapman and Hall. New York, pp 65–101
Ehrenfeld JG (1990) Dynamics and processes of barrier island vegetation. Rev Aquat Sci 2:437–480
Harris MS (1992) The geomorphology of Hog Island, Virginia: a mid-Atlantic coastal barrier. MSc thesis, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Hayden BP, Dueser RD, Callahan JT, Shugart HH (1991) Longterm research at the Virginia Coast Reserve. Bioscience 41:310–318
Hayman DS (1983) The physiology of vesicular-arbuscular endomycorrhizal symbiosis. Can J Bot 61:944–963
Hirrel MC, Mehravaran H, Gerdemann JW (1978) Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae in the Chenopodiaceae and Cruciferae: do they occur? Can J Bot 56:2813–2817
Hoagland DR, Arnon DI (1938) The water culture method for growing plants without soil. University of California Agricultural Experiment Station, Circular 347
Koske RE, Halvorson WL (1980) Ecological studies of vesicularrbuscular mycorrhizae in a barrier sand dune. Can J Bot 59:1414–1421
Koske RE, Polson WR (1984) Are VA mycorrhizae required for dune stabilization? Bioscience 34:420–424
Louis I, Racette S, Torrey JG (1990) Occurrence of cluster roots on Myrica cerifera L. (Myricaceae) in water culture in relation to phosphorus nutrition. New Phytol 115:311–317
McCaffrey CA, Dueser RD (1990) Plant associations on the Virginia barrier islands. Va J Sci 41:282–294
McGonigle TP, Miller HM, Evans DG, Fairchild GI, Swan JA (1990) A new method which gives an objective measure of the colonization of roots by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. New Phytol 115:495–501
Nicolson TH, Johnston C (1979) Mycorrhiza in the Gramineae. III. Glomus fasciculatus as the endophyte of pioneer grasses in a maritime sand dune. Trans Br Mycol Soc 72:261–268
Phillips JM, Hayman DS (1970) Improved procedures for clearing roots and staining parasitic and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for rapid assessment of infection. Trans Br Mycol Soc 55:158–161
Poole BC, Sylvia DN (1990) Companion plants affect colonization of Myrica cerifera by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Can J Bot 68:2703–2704
Read DJ (1983) The biology of mycorrhizae in the Ericales. Can J Bot 61:985–1004
Stahl E (1900) Der Sinn der Mycorrhizenbildung. Jahrb Wiss Bot 34:539–568
Van der Valk AG (1974) Environmental factors controlling the distribution of forbs on coastal foredunes in Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Can J Bot 52:1057–1073
Young DR, Sande E, Peters GA (1992) Spatial relationships of Frankia and Myrica cerifera on a Virginia, USA barrier island. Symbiosis 12:209–220
Young DR, Shao G, Porter JH (1995) Spatial and temporal growth dynamics of barrier island shrub thickets. Am J Bot 82:638–645
Zar JH (1984) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Semones, S.W., Young, D.R. VAM association in the shrub Myrica cerifera on a Virginia, USA barrier island. Mycorrhiza 5, 423–429 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00213443
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00213443