ISHS Acta Horticulturae 496: International Symposium on Urban Tree Health
MYCORRHIZAL STATUS AND MORPHOTYPE DIVERSITY IN TILIA CORDATA - A PILOT STUDY OF NURSERIES AND URBAN HABITATS |
| Authors: | J.S. Nielsen, H.N. Rasmussen |
| Keywords: | ectomycorrhiza, nursery plants, transplantation, diversity estimation, urban trees |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.1999.496.56 |
| Abstract:
Tilia cordata is a popular tree for landscaping, forestation and urban environments. The questions raised in this study are whether seed plants obtain appropriate ectomycorrhiza while in the nursery, and whether this mycorrhization is maintained after transfer to the final habitat. Plants were analysed from two seed plant nurseries, two landscaping nurseries, and two street localities, representing a production line. Two natural self-sowing forests and one plantation forest habitat were used as reference. In each place, 5–10 trees were selected, 2–3 topsoil root systems sampled from each tree, and mycorrhizal root tips distributed into morphotypes. Percent mycorrhizae of total living root tips was above 75% in all localities. Forest habitats contained more morphotypes than the other localities. The dominating type in forest nurseries (1–2 year seedlings) did not occur consistently in older cultures and was absent in the street trees. Two morphotypes originated in the tree nurseries (3–12 years old trees); both reoccurred in the street trees, one with about the same incidence, the other much increased. Both types hardly occurred at all in the forest habitats. T. cordata proved to be highly mycorrhizal even in fertilized cultural systems and thus seems to be strongly dependent on mycorrhiza, although the importance of diversity in the symbionts is unknown. The data obtained suggest that strains vary in their persistence, when faced with environmental changes such as replanting and with the natural inoculum potential in the final habitat. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
