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Do native plant associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and dark septate endophytes differ between reconstructed and remnant coastal dunes?

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Abstract

Anthropogenic landscape modification can disrupt mutualistic interactions between native plants and soil microbes. Restoration of native vegetation in disturbed habitats may depend upon reconnecting plants with their fungal symbionts, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). We compared levels of root colonisation by AMF (arbuscules, vesicles, aseptate hyphae) and dark septate endophytes (DSE; septate hyphae, microsclerotia) between reconstructed and remnant dunes along the southern coastline of New South Wales (Australia) for two native plants: Lomandra longifolia and Carpobrotus glaucescens. Reconstruction was undertaken approximately 30 years ago to reinstate native vegetation and reduce erosion on dunes deforested by European settlers during the 1800s. Fungal colonisation was assessed using the point-intercept method on stained root sections under a light microscope. Root colonisation by AMF did not differ significantly between reconstructed and remnant dune habitats, but did vary significantly amongst sites. In contrast, DSE was two times lower for L. longifolia plants growing in reconstructed compared with remnant fore dunes. Our finding of reduced DSE colonisation in reconstructed dunes may indicate that impacts of land clearing on plant–fungal associations may persist over long time periods for some key plant species. Reduced DSE colonisation may be associated with limited restoration potential and functioning of reconstructed fore dune ecosystems. Future research will be needed to assess the scale of reduced DSE across reconstructed coastal habitats, the role of plant–DSE relationships in vegetation community function, and implications of reduced DSE for ecosystem restoration.

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Abbreviations

AMF:

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

DSE:

Dark septate endophyte

N:

Nitrogen

NSW:

New South Wales

P:

Phosphorus

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Acknowledgements

We thank Aimee Beardsmore, Tony Miskiewicz and Paul Formosa from Wollongong City Council for funding the project and providing information on dune restoration history. Marina McGlinn provided administrative support. Evi Watts, Luke Carey, Liam Milo Kelly, James Lidsey, Georgia Watson and Rika Goto assisted with field work. Elli-Frances Kircher, Daniel Colella, Josh Sharp Heward, Eleanor Charnock and Evi Watts assisted with processing root sections in the laboratory. Two anonymous reviewers and the guest editor provided invaluable advice on how to improve the quality of the manuscript—we thank them for their time and expertise.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions, The School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Ben Gooden & Kris French

  2. CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Ben Gooden

  3. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC, 3125, Australia

    Eilysh Rosalie Thompson

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  1. Ben Gooden
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Contributions

BG, ERT and KF conceived and designed the research; ERT and BG conducted field sampling; ERT processed root and mycorrhizal samples in the lab under direction of BG; BG and ERT performed statistical analyses; BG led writing of the manuscript with contributions from ERT and KR.

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Correspondence to Ben Gooden.

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Communicated by Christina Birnbaum.

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Gooden, B., Thompson, E.R. & French, K. Do native plant associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and dark septate endophytes differ between reconstructed and remnant coastal dunes?. Plant Ecol 221, 757–771 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-019-00959-4

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