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Abstract
Oak woodland regeneration and restoration requires that seedlings develop mycorrhizas, yet the need for this mutualistic association is often overlooked. In this study, we asked whether
Quercus garryana seedlings in nursery beds acquire mycorrhizas without artificial inoculation or access to a mycorrhizal network of other ectomycorrhizal hosts. We also assessed the relationship between mycorrhizal infection and seedling growth in a nursery. Further, we compared the mycorrhizal assemblage of oak nursery seedlings to that of conifer seedlings in the nursery and to that of oak seedlings in nearby oak woodlands. Seedlings were excavated and the roots washed and examined microscopically.
Mycorrhizas were identified by DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region and by morphotype. On oak nursery seedlings, predominant mycorrhizas were species of
Laccaria and
Tuber with single occurrences of
Entoloma and
Peziza. In adjacent beds, seedlings of
Pseudotsuga menziesii were mycorrhizal with
Hysterangium and a different species of
Laccaria; seedlings of
Pinus monticola were mycorrhizal with
Geneabea,
Tarzetta, and
Thelephora. Height of
Q. garryana seedlings correlated with root biomass and mycorrhizal abundance. Total mycorrhizal abundance and abundance of
Laccaria mycorrhizas significantly predicted seedling height in the nursery. Native oak seedlings from nearby
Q. garryana woodlands were mycorrhizal with 13 fungal symbionts, none of which occurred on the nursery seedlings. These results demonstrate the value of mycorrhizas to the growth of oak seedlings. Although seedlings in nursery beds developed mycorrhizas without intentional inoculation, their mycorrhizas differed from and were less species rich than those on native seedlings.
Citation
Southworth, Dariene; Carrington, Elizabeth M.; Frank, Jonathan L.; Gould, Peter; Harrington, Connie A.; Devine, Warren D. 2009. Mycorrhizas on nursery and field seedlings of
Quercus garryana. Mycorrhiza. 19: 149-158
