Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the coastal sand dunes of the west coast of India

We examined the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi associated with the dominant strand plant species, Ipomoea pes-caprae of the coastal sand dunes of west coast of India. The study reports the impact of rhizosphere edaphic features and disturbance on the species richness and diversity of AM fungi in 10 geographical locations consisting of moderately disturbed dunes (MDD) and severely disturbed dunes (SDD) during wet and dry seasons. The vegetation cover, AM fungal colonization, species richness and diversity were greater in MDD than in SDD, irrespective of seasons. The AM species richness and spore density of both MDD and SDD were strongly correlated with rhizosphere nitrogen. Among the nine rhizosphere edaphic features, the nitrogen and phosphate showed significant difference between MDD and SDD, Pooled data indicate that Glomus mosseae was most dominant, followed by Glomus dimorphicum, Gigaspora gigantea, Acaulospora taiwania, Glomus fasciculatum and Glomus sp, 27SS. Eleven species scored above 10% frequency on MDD, and it was only three species on SDD. G. mosseae, G, dimorphicum and G, gigantea were most common in both MDD and SDD, The changes in AM fungal community on these sand dunes are in response to disturbance rather than the reflection on temporal patterns of variation.