Biodiversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in South America: A Review

Identification of species is crucial in understanding how diversity changes affect ecosystemic processes. Particularly, soil microbial are key factors of ecosystemic functioning .Among soil microbes, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, phylum Glomeromycota) are worldwide distributed and form symbiotic associations with almost 80% of the vascular plants of the earth, except for one species, Geosiphon pyriformis, which associates with the cyanobacteria Nostoc. AMF comprise around 300 morphologically defined or 350–1000 molecularly defined taxa. Since AMF associate with aboveground community, their occurrence and composition can influence ecosystemic processes either through affecting plant community composition and thus its processes rates, or soil microbial communities, which are directly involved in nutrient cycling. Soil microorganisms are considered a potentially suitable target for studying regional and local effects on diversity. The symbiosis with AMF not only increases nutrient uptake by the plant of mainly phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in exchange for plant-assimilated carbon (C), but also improves the tolerance of plants to various biotic and abiotic stresses such as pathogens, salinity, and drought

Southern Highlands: Fungal Endosymbiotic Associations

In South America (SA), Highlands above-treeline stretch along 7000 km in a North-South direction, occupying almost 694,000 km2, most of it is located in the Andean region except for 34,500 km2 in the Chaco region. In these Highlands are represented very particular ecoregions and phytogeographic areas in desertic, arid and semiarid biomes with characteristic vegetations composed by endemic plants. These Highlands are completely different from the ones found in Europe and Asia due to their proper biodiversity, climate, geographic position, geologic origin, and biogeography. Highlands in SA are suffering soil erosion, a retraction of their areas due to the advance of the agricultural-livestock frontiers and overgrazing, environmental deterioration by firewood extraction and the accumulation of mining toxic waste. Mountain ecosystems are huge-natural-environmental laboratories where it is possible to study important ecological unresolved hypothesis. The study of fungal-root-endophytes (mycorrhizal and dark-septate fungi), their colonization to native plants and how to enhance the resilience of soil ecosystems deserves special attention. Studies on fungal-root-endophytes have been carried out extensively worldwide; however, the research in Highlands are still scant around the world, especially in SA. This Chapter reviews and discusses fungal-root-endophytes colonization in Highlands of SA, and compared them to the worldwide knowledge.Fil: Lugo, Mónica Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Menoyo, Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentin