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Title: CONTRIBUTIONS OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAS TO SOIL BIOLOGICAL FERTILITY

Author
item Douds, David
item JOHNSON, NANCY - NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIV.

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/3/2002
Publication Date: 5/13/2003
Citation: Douds, D.D., Johnson, N.C. 2003. Contributions of arbuscular mycorrhizas to soil biological fertility. Book Chapter.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Arbuscular mycorrhizal [AM] fungi are mutualistic symbiotic soil fungi that colonize the roots of most crop plants. They function in effect as extensions of the plant's root system, allowing it to explore the soil more efficiently for nutrients. Other benefits to the plant are improved water relations and resistance to pests. These fungi also affect soil ecology through the stabilization of soil aggregates and their effects on communities of other soil microbes. These aspects of the impacts of AM fungi upon soil biological fertility are reviewed in this chapter. In addition, we review the impacts of agricultural management practices upon indigenous populations of AM fungi with an eye toward utilizing this symbiosis more effectively in sustainable agriculture.