Container- and nursery-grown black oak seedlings inoculated with Pisolithustinctorius: growth and ectomycorrhizal development following outplanting on an Ozark clear-cut

Abstract

Containerized and bare-rooted black oak (Quercusvelutina Lam.) seedlings were inoculated with vegetative mycelial inoculum of Pisolithustinctorius and were grown in a greenhouse and a southern Missouri nursery, respectively. Following outplanting on a typical Missouri Ozark reforestation site, field data revealed that Pisolithus ectomycorrhizae increased survival and growth of the container-grown seedlings. Container-grown seedlings inoculated with Pisolithus exhibited significantly greater shoot and root growth than noninoculated control seedlings or inoculated bare-rooted seedlings. A complimentary relationship between root initiation, leaf area development, and shoot growth suggests a better growth potential of Pisolithus-inoculated container-grown seedlings than of noninoculated container-grown or inoculated or noninoculated bare-rooted seedlings. One year after outplanting, data revealed that Pisolithus is declining on the inoculated containerized and bare-rooted seedlings, but greater amounts of Pisolithus ectomycorrhizae are persisting on the container-grown plants.