Promotion of Lotus tenuis in the Flooding Pampa (Argentina) increases the soil fungal diversity

NIEVA, A.S.; BAILLERES M.A.; LLAMES M.E.; TABOADA M.A.; RUIZ O.A.; MENENDEZ A.B.

FUNGAL ECOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2018 vol. 33 p. 80 - 91

1754-5048

Forage promotion is an increasinglyused agricultural practice that requires herbicide application to removecompeting plant species. This work examined the effect of the forage legume Lotus tenuis on the fungal communitycomposition, at three sites of the Flooding Pampa, Argentina. Replicate paddocks,managed either by herbicide-mediated promotion of L. tenuis or unmanaged(dominated by grasses) were compared using 454 pyrosequencing, targeting the fungal internaltranscribed spacer (ITS) gene. Our results suggest that fungal diversity in the studiedarea varied according to the site and the land use (natural grasses vs. L. tenuis promotion). Several factors [pH,Ca2+, P, and HCO3] were the main soil environmentaldrivers of distribution of fungal classes. Herbicide-mediated L. tenuis promotion led to increasedfungal diversity, with dominance of Fusariumspecies.