CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are vital for maintaining ecosystem structure and functioning and can be affectedby complex interactions between plants and herbivores. Information found in the literature about howungulategrazing affects AMF is in general contradictory but might be caused by differences in grazing intensities(GIs) among studies. Hence we studied how different GIs affect the composition, diversity, and abundance ofAMF communities in a semiarid steppe of Patagonia. We predicted that 1) total AMF spore abundance (TSA)and diversity would decrease only under intense-grazing levels and 2) AMF species spore abundance would dependon their life-history strategies and on the GI. To test our predictions, we compared AMF communitiesamong nongrazed (NG), moderately grazed (MG, 0.1?0.3 sheep ha1), and intensely grazed sites (IG, N 0.3sheep ha1). GI was the most important factor driving changes in TSA and diversity, regardless of host plant identity.TSA, diversity, and evenness significantly decreased in IG sites but were not affected by MG. AMF speciesspore abundance varied depending on their life-history strategies and GI. Families with high growth rates likeGlomeraceae and probably Pacisporaceae showed the highest spore abundance in all sites but decreased underIG. Species with higher carbon demands like Gigasporaceae showed low spore abundance and frequency in NGand MG sites and were absent in IG sites. In contrast, species with low growth rates, but efficient carbon usage,like Acaulosporaceae, showed low spore abundance in all sites but increased in IG sites compared with NG orMG sites. We conclude that intensification of grazing reduces AMF diversity and abundance, with the likelyloss of AMF benefits for plants, such as improved nutrient and water uptake and soil aggregation. Therefore, sustainablegrazing systems should be designed to improve or restore AMF communities, particularly in degradedrangelands, like the Patagonian steppes.