Subterranean desert rodents (Ctenomys sp.) create soil patches enriched in root endophytic fungal propagules

MIRANDA V.; ROTHEN, C.; YELA N.; ARANDA RICKET A.; BARROS J.; CALCAGNO, J.; FRACCHIA, S.

MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

SPRINGER

Año: 2018

0095-3628

Subterranean rodents are considered major soilengineers, as they can locally modify soil properties by their burrowingactivities. In this study theeffect of a subterranean rodent of the genus Ctenomys on soil properties and root endophytic fungal propagules ina shrub desert of northwest Argentina was examined. Our main goal was toinclude among root endophytic fungi not only arbuscular mycorrhiza but also thedark septate endophytes. We compared the abundance of fungal propagules as wellas several microbiological and physicochemical parameters between soils fromburrows and those from the surrounding landscape. Our results show that food haulage, the deposition of excretions, and soilmixing by rodents? burrowing promote soil patchiness by: 1) the enrichment in both types of rootendophytic fungal propagules, 2) the increase in organic matter and nutrients,and 3) changes in soil edaphic properties including moisture, field capacityand texture. These patches mayplay a critical role as a source of soil heterogeneity in desert ecosystems, where burrows constructed in interpatches of bare soil can act,once abandoned, as ?islands of fertility?, promoting the establishmentof plants in an otherwise hostile environment.