Fróðskaparrit - 01.07.2004, Page 39

VAL AV LÍVØKI HJÁ ARBUSKULSOPPUM
í FØROYUM SAMMETT VIÐ AÐRASTAÐNI
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and therefore a higher colonisation rate is
frequently observed in low phosphate soils
compared with nutrient rich soils. This
trend might also be observed with the types
of AM fungi colonising the roots, for ex-
ample Helgason et al. (1998) found that the
Shannon index was 1.44 for old woodland
soil and 0.39 for arable soil.
The sampling intensity of the Van-
denkoornhuyse’s study was considerable
higher than in the present study, and they
claim that if the sampling is insufficient
then that will lead to decrease in the num-
ber of phylotypes found (Vandenkoorn-
huyse, 2002). It is therefore likely that the
sampling from the Faroes would have re-
vealed more types if the number of clones
was increased.
The Faroese AM fungi from Agrostis
capillarís do not group particularly well
with fungi found in Agrostis capillaris at
Sourhope. There are three types in com-
mon, two of which are Glomus spp., Glo3
and Glo9, but these are found in all four
studies compared in Fig. 1 and Table 3, in-
dicating a worldwide distribution. Further,
one Acaulospora (Acau5), which also is
found in the “English forest” studies, oc-
curs in the Faroes. Table 3 and Fig. 3 are
based on the data used to compare the
Faroese data with in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 indicates
that the Faroese AM fungal flora is most
similar to what is found in an English for-
est. The Scottish Agrostis capillaris AM
fungal flora seems to be as distant as the
tropical forest to Faroese and English sites.
Sourhope Faroes Panama England
Number host plants 2 2 2 6
Number clones 2001 (1696) 176(127) 1383 257
pH range 4.3-5 4.8-6 n.a. 2.9-3.4*)
Glomaceae 19(16) 5(5) 22 7
Acaulosporaceae 3(3) 2(2) 4 5
Gigasporaceae 2(2) 0 4 1
Archaeosporaceae/Paraglomaceae 0 1 (1) 0 1
Total number of types 24 8 30 14
Table 3. Number of AMfungal types separated into the different AM fungal taxa. The numbers in brancets are the
numbers for Agrostis capillaris only. Only 8 types are sequenced from the Faroes, but in addition to tlie sequenced
types, 10 unidentified RLFP types are found. *) From Farley and Fitter, 1999.
Sourhope: Scottish grassland wilh Agrostis capillaris (1 site)
Faroes: Faroese grasslands with Agrostis capillaris (8 sites)
Panama: Tropicalforest (2 sites)
England: Englishforest (3 canopies)