Mycorrhizal colonization and nitrogen uptake by maize: combined effect of tropical earthworms and velvetbean mulch |
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| Authors: | Angel I Ortiz-Ceballos Juan J Peña-Cabriales Carlos Fragoso George G Brown |
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| Institution: | (1) Laboratorio de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada, Dirección General de Investigaciones, Universidad Veracruzana, Campus para la Cultura, las Artes y el Deporte, AP 250, Xalapa, Ver, 91090, Mexico;(2) Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioquímica, CINVESTAV—Unidad Irapuato, AP 629, Irapuato, Gto, 36500, Mexico;(3) Departamento de Biologia de Suelos, Instituto de Ecologia, A.C., AP 63, Xalapa, Ver, 91000, Mexico;(4) Embrapa Florestas, CP 319, Colombo, PR, 83411-000, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Earthworms and mulch can have positive or negative effects on mycorrhizae (fungus-roots) and N uptake by plants. In the present
experiment, maize plants were grown under greenhouse conditions with or without tropical earthworms (Balanteodrilus pearsei) and mulch of velvetbean (Mucuna pruriens var. utilis). The formation of vesicles and hyphae of arbuscular-mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in roots and N uptake by maize plants was measured
at harvest. The addition of earthworms and velvetbean reduced AM root colonization. Earthworms had no effect on plant root
or shoot biomass. In the absence of velvetbean, earthworms reduced AM colonization, but when velvetbean was present, this
effect disappeared. The addition of velvetbean mulch, on the other hand, had an effect on plant biomass (above- and belowground)
and a positive effect on AM fungal colonization of roots in presence of worms, but a negative effect when worms were absent.
When both M. pruriens and B. pearsei were added, shoot and root biomass and N concentrations increased. Vesicle formation was related to velvetbean mulch decomposition
as well as the higher N concentration in maize roots. Management of mulch–earthworm interactions may be of value, particularly
in low-input and organic agricultural systems, and deserves further investigation. |
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| Keywords: | Earthworm Cover crop Arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi N concentration Zea mays |
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