Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi as a Bio-Indicator for Monitoring Soil Attributes in Zagros Semi-Arid Woodlands

Aims The present study aimed to 1) determine the extent of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi symbiosis with Amygdalus scopariain in Melah-Roteh region in Dareshahr City, western Iran, and 2) model the presence or absence of different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on Almonds (A. scoparia) in relation to soil physicochemical properties. Materials Methods In the study area (Melah-Roteh region in Zagros Woodlands), 57 soil samples were taken from the 0-30cm depth under A. scoparia in the Dareshahr City forest west of Iran. Soil samples were processed in the laboratory to extract and identify spores and fungi, determine spore frequency, and to measure physicochemical soil properties. Findings The results of two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) classification showed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi symbiotic with A. scoparia in the study could be classified into two groups. The evaluation of indicator species in each group using the importance value method and significance of indicator values based on Monte Carlo tests (p 0.01) showed that Rhizophagus fasciculatus and Funneliformis caledonium (Indicator value= 90 and 89, respectively) were prominent in the first group and Funneliformis mosseae, Claroideoglomus drummondii, and Glomus gigantea (Indicator value= 95, 93, and 81, respectively) were representative of the second group. Conclusion The presence-absence, symbiosis rate and spore density of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi species associated with Almonds changes with varying physicochemical soil properties that can be modeled using certain soil attributes.