Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T07:42:09.663Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Suppression of VAM fungi and micronutrient uptake by low-level P fertilization in long-term wheat rotations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

M. Jill Clapperton
Affiliation:
Rhizosphere Ecologist and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Centre, Lethbridge, Alberta, CanadaT1J 4B1;
H. Henry Janzen
Affiliation:
Soil Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Centre, Lethbridge, Alberta, CanadaT1J 4B1;
Adrian M. Johnston
Affiliation:
Research Agronomist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Station, Melfort, Saskatchewan, CanadaSOE 1A0.
Get access

Abstract

The long-term effects of cropping practices on plant-available micronutrient concentrations in soils of the northern Great Plains of North America have not been adequately determined. We measured micronutrient uptake by wheat in a crop rotation experiment established at Lethbridge, Alberta in 1911. Phosphorus application at low rates (20 kg P ha-1 yr-1) since 1972 suppressed uptake of Zn, Cu, and Ca in the two years in which they were measured, 1991 and 1993. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi are plant symbiotic fungi that are known to increase the uptake of relatively immobile micronutrients such as Cu, P, and Zn. The functioning of these fungi is known to be affected by high-levels of P fertilization. Assessment of wheat roots showed that low-level P fertilization had significantly reduced the length of root colonized and the percentage of roots colonized by VAM fungi. The results show the importance of considering microbial ecology when assessing the effects of agricultural practices, including low-input practices, on soil productivity and crop nutrient value.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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.Abbott, L.K., and Robson, A.D.. 1984. The effects of mycorrhizae on plant growth. In Powell, C.L. and Bagyaraj, D.J. (eds). VA Mycorrhiza. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, pp. 113130.Google Scholar
2.Amijee, F., Tinker, P.B., and Stribley, D.P.. 1989. The development of endomycorrhizal root systems. VII. A detailed study of effects of soil phosphorus on colonization. New Phytologist 111:435446.Google ScholarPubMed
3.Biederbeck, V.O., Janzen, H.H., Campbell, C.A., and Zentner, R.P.. 1994. Labile soil organic matter is influenced by cropping practices in an arid environment. Soil Biology Biochemistry 26:16471656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Clapperton, M.J., and Reid, D.M.. 1992. Effects of low-concentration sulphur dioxide fumigation and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas on 14C-partitioning in Phleum pratense L. New Phytologist 120:381387.Google Scholar
5.Cooper, K.M., and Tinker, P.B.. 1978. Translocation and transfer of nutrients in vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas. IL Uptake and translocation of phosphorus, zinc and sulphur. New Phytologist 81:4552.Google Scholar
6.Fitter, A.H., and Nichols, R.. 1988. The use of benomyl to control infection by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. New Phytologist 110:201206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Follett, R.F., and Peterson, G.A.. 1988. Surface soil nutrient distribution as affected by wheat-fallow tillage systems. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 52:141147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Jackson, G.D., Berg, R.K., Kushnak, G.D., Carlson, G.R., and Lund, R.E.. 1993. Phosphorus relationships in notill small grains. Communications Soil Sci. Plant Analysis 24:13191331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Janzen, H.H. 1995. The role of longterm sites in agroecological research: A case study. Canadian J. Soil Sci. 75:123133.Google Scholar
10.Jarrel, W.M., and Beverly, R.B.. 1981. The dilution effect in plant nutrition studies. Advances in Agronomy 34:197224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Jurinak, J.J., Dudley, L.M., Allen, M.F., and Knight, W.G.. 1986. The role of calcium oxalate in the availability of phosphorus in soils of semiarid regions: A thermodynamic study. Soil Sci. 142:255261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Kothari, S.K., Marschner, H., and Römheld, V.. 1990. Direct and indirect effects of VA mycorrhizal fungi and rhizosphere microorganisms on acquisition of mineral nutrients by maize (Zea mays L.) in a calcareous soil. New Phytologist 116:637645.Google Scholar
13.Kothari, S.K., Marschner, H., and Römheld, V.. 1991. Contribution of VA mycorrhizal hyphae in acquisition of phosphorus and zinc by maize grown in a calcareous soil. New Phytologist 131:177185.Google Scholar
14.Kucey, R.M.N., and Janzen, H.H.. 1987. Effects of VAM and reduced nutrient availability on growth and phosphorus and micronutrient uptake of wheat and field beans under greenhouse conditions. Plant and Soil 104:7178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Lambert, D.H., Baker, D.E., and Cole, H.. 1979. The role of mycorrhizae in the interactions of phosphorus with zinc, copper and other elements. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 43:976980.Google Scholar
16.Lambert, D.H., and Weidensaul, T.C.. 1991. Element uptake by mycorrhizal soybean from sewage-sludge-treated soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 55:393398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Mahler, R.L., Hammel, J.E., and Harder, R.W.. 1985. The influence of crop rotation and tillage methods on DTPA-extractable copper, iron, manganese and zinc in northern Idaho soils. Soil Sci. 139:279286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.McKenzie, R.H., Stewart, J.W.B., Dormaar, J.F., and Schaalje, G.B.. 1992. Long-term crop rotations and fertilizer effects on phosphorus transformations: I. In a Chernozemic soil. Canadian J. Soil Sci. 72:569579.Google Scholar
19.Mohammad, M.J., Pan, W.L., and Kennedy, A.C.. 1995. Wheat responses to vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculation of soils from eroded toposequence. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 59:10861090.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Newman, E.I. 1966. A method for estimating the total length of root in a sample. J. Applied Ecology 3:139145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Ojala, J.C., Jarrell, W.M., Menge, J.A., and Johnson, E.L.V., 1983. Influence of mycorrhizal fungi on the mineral nutrition and yield of onion in saline soil. Agronomy J. 75:255259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.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. 55:158161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Raju, P.S., Clark, R.B., Ellis, J.R., and Maranville, J.W.. 1987. Vesiculararbuscular mycorrhizal infection effects on sorghum growth, phosphorus efficiency, and mineral element uptake. J. Plant Nutrition 10:13311339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Singh, J.P., Karamanos, R.E., and Stewart, J.W.B.. 1986. Phosphorus-induced zinc deficiency in wheat on residual phosphorus plots. Agronomy J. 78:668675.Google Scholar
25.Singh, J.P., Karamanos, R.E., and Stewart, J.W.B.. 1988. The mechanism of phosphorus-induced zinc deficiency in bean (Phaseolus wlgaris L.). Canadian J. Soil Sci. 68:345358.Google Scholar
26.Sukarno, N., Smith, S.E., and Scott, E.S.. 1993. The effect of fungicides on vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis I. The effects on vesiculararbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth. New Phytologist 125:139147.Google Scholar
27.Thomson, B.D., Robson, A.D., and Abbott, L.K.. 1986. Effect of phosphorus on the formation of mycorrhizae by Gigaspora calospora and Glomus fasiculatum in relation to root carbohydrate. New Phytologist 103:751765.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28.Thomson, B.D., Robson, A.D., and Abbott, L.K.. 1992. The effect of long-term application of phosphorus ferilizer on populations of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in pastures. Australian J. Agric. Research 43:11311142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Vivekanandan, M., and Fixen, P.E.. 1991. Cropping systems effects on mycorrhizal colonization, early growth, and phosphorus uptake of corn. Soil Sei. Soc. Amer. J. 55:136140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30.Zak, J.C., and Parkinson, D.. 1982. Initial vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal development of slender wheat grass on two amended mine spoils. Canadian J. Botany 60:22412248.Google Scholar