Natural Re-Establishment of Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae Following Stripmine Reclamation in Wyoming

Abstract

The percent root infection of Agropyron smithii and A. intermedium by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae was measured and soil spores were counted in 6 reclaimed stripmine sites in Wyoming. On 2- and 3-yr old sites percent infection and spore counts were about 50% or less than native prairie levels. Spore counts of a 3-yr old disked prairie site were not different from the undisturbed prairie level, but infection was significantly lower. Spore counts of the reclaimed sites were not highly correlated with percent root infection. Five of 7 annuals which colonized the reclaimed and disked sites were non-mycorrhizal (Salsola kali, Chenopodium pratericola, Lepidium densiflorum, Amaranthus graecizans and Kochia scoparia). [Festuca octoflora and Plantago purshii were mycorrhizal.].