Positive effects of organic farming on below-ground mutualists: large-scale comparison of mycorrhizal fungal communities in agricultural soils

• Published in: The New phytologist Vol. 186; no. 4; pp. 968 - 979
• Main Authors: Verbruggen, Erik, Röling, Wilfred F. M., Gamper, Hannes A., Kowalchuk, George A., Verhoef, Herman A., van der Heijden, Marcel G. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2010; Blackwell Publishing; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Agricultural ecosystems; Agricultural land; Agricultural management; Agricultural practices; agricultural soils; Agriculture; Agriculture - methods; Agroecosystems; analysis; Arable land; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF); Arbuscular mycorrhizas; below-ground mutualism; Biodiversity; Community composition; community structure; Composition; Corn; Crop management; Crop rotation; Crops, Agricultural; Crops, Agricultural - growth & development; Crops, Agricultural - microbiology; Ecological sustainability; Ecosystem; Ecosystem management; Ecosystems; Fields; Fingerprinting; fungal communities; Fungi; Grasslands; growth & development; methods; microbiology; Mycorrhizae; Mycorrhizae - physiology; mycorrhizal fungi; organic agriculture; Organic farming; Organic foods; organic production; physiology; Plants; Poaceae; Poaceae - microbiology; Polymorphism; Principal Component Analysis; Restoration; Restriction fragment length polymorphism; Sandy soils; Soil; Soil - analysis; soil biodiversity; Soil Microbiology; species diversity; Species Specificity; Strategic management; Sustainable agriculture; Symbiosis; Symbiosis - physiology; terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP); Time Factors; β-diversity

The impact of various agricultural practices on soil biodiversity and, in particular, on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), is still poorly understood, although AMF can provide benefit to plants and ecosystems. Here, we tested whether organic farming enhances AMF diversity and whether AMF communiti...