Mycorrhizal populations of sown pastures and native vegetation in Otago, New Zealand

Abstract

Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Endogonaceae) were present as resting spores (6-1590/100 g soil) and as root infection (4%–85% of cortex infected) at 34 of the 35 sites examined. They were most abundant under native scrub and mixed forest and least abundant under tussock grasslands. Their variable occurrence under sown pastures was attributed partly to their abundance under the preceding vegetation; it was not related to soil phosphate availability. Of the 10 species distinguished, the 4 most widespread were the “white reticulate” type, Acaulospora laevis, Sclerocystis rubiformis, and the Glomus fasciculatus group. The absence of distinctive distribution patterns suggests a large measure of ecological equivalence between species.