The Role of Relict Vegetation in Maintaining Physical, Chemical, and Biological Properties in an Abandoned Stipa -Grass Agroecosystem

A study of rhizosphere physical-chemical and biological properties for dominant vegetation, including Stipa tenacissima and Rosmarinus officinalis, and for relict natural vegetation, namely Olea europaea subsp. sylvestris, Pistacia lentiscus, Retama sphaerocarpa, and Rhamnus lycioides, was carried out in an abandoned agricultural soil from a semiarid Mediterranean area. Rhizospheres of R. sphaerocarpa and S. tenacissima had the highest concentration of total N. Rhizospheres of R. sphaerocarpa and R. lycioides showed the highest soluble C-fraction values (water soluble C and water soluble carbohydrates). The highest percentages of stable aggregates were recorded in the rhizospheres of P. lentiscus (about 69%) and S. tenacissima (about 79%). O. europaea and R. sphaerocarpa had the highest capacity to enhance the development of mycorrhizal propagules in their rhizospheres. The mycorrhizal potential of S. tenacissima was on average 3.2-fold lower than that of O. europaea and R. sphaerocarpa, which points to the necessity ofreconstituting it prior to carrying out revegetation processes.

[1]  G. Safir,et al.  Increased drought tolerance of mycorrhizal onion plants caused by improved phosphorus nutrition , 1982, Planta.

[2]  B. N. Bearden,et al.  Influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on soil structure and aggregate stability of a vertisol , 2004, Plant and Soil.

[3]  J. Barea,et al.  Assessing the effectiveness of mycorrhizal inoculation and soil compost addition for enhancing reafforestation with Olea europaea subsp. sylvestris through changes in soil biological and physical parameters , 2002 .

[4]  F. Maestre,et al.  POTENTIAL FOR USING FACILITATION BY GRASSES TO ESTABLISH SHRUBS ON A SEMIARID DEGRADED STEPPE , 2001 .

[5]  R. Augé.  Water relations, drought and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis , 2001, Mycorrhiza.

[6]  N. Requena,et al.  Management of Indigenous Plant-Microbe Symbioses Aids Restoration of Desertified Ecosystems , 2001, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[7]  S. Bedini,et al.  Paris-type mycorrhizas in Smilax aspera L. growing in a Mediterranean scherophyllous wood , 2000, Mycorrhiza.

[8]  S. Wright,et al.  Aggregate stability and glomalin in alternative crop rotations for the central Great Plains , 2000, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[9]  Y. Bashan,et al.  Nurse Plants, Mycorrhizae, and Plant Establishment in a Disturbed Area of the Sonoran Desert , 1999 .

[10]  J. Poesen,et al.  Modified topsoil islands within patchy Mediterranean vegetation in SE Spain , 1999 .

[11]  Artemi Cerdà,et al.  Soil aggregate stability under different Mediterranean vegetation types , 1998 .

[12]  A. Roldán,et al.  The role of mycorrhizae, site preparation, and organic amendment in the afforestation of a semi-arid Mediterranean site with Pinus halepensis , 1998 .

[13]  Artemi Cerdà,et al.  The effect of patchy distribution ofStipa tenacissimaL. on runoff and erosion , 1997 .

[14]  F. Pugnaire,et al.  Mechanisms of interaction between a leguminous shrub and its understorey in a semi-arid environment , 1997 .

[15]  N. Requena,et al.  Assessment of natural mycorrhizal potential in a desertified semiarid ecosystem , 1996, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[16]  William H. Schlesinger,et al.  ON THE SPATIAL PATTERN OF SOIL NUTRIENTS IN DESERT ECOSYSTEMS , 1995 .

[17]  A. Roldán,et al.  AN INCUBATION EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE FACTORS INVOLVING AGGREGATION CHANGES IN AN ARID SOIL RECEIVING URBAN REFUSE , 1994 .

[18]  D. Keeney,et al.  Soluble anthrone-reactive carbon in soils: effect of carbon and nitrogen amendments. , 1993 .

[19]  J. Oades.  The role of biology in the formation, stabilization and degradation of soil structure , 1993 .

[20]  V. Castillo,et al.  Reclamation of physical and chemical properties of a salinized soil by organic amendment , 1993 .

[21]  E. Sieverding,et al.  Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Man-agement in Tropical Agrosystems , 1991 .

[22]  J. M. Bremner,et al.  A rapid and precise method for routine determination of organic carbon in soil , 1988 .

[23]  J. R. Sims,et al.  SIMPLIFIED COLORIMETRIC DETERMINATION OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER , 1971 .

[24]  J. P. Riley,et al.  A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters , 1962 .

[25]  D. L. Lynch,et al.  MEASUREMENT OF CARBOHYDRATES IN SOIL HYDROLYZATES WITH ANTHRONE , 1960 .

[26]  C. I. Rich.  Soil Chemical Analysis , 1958 .