Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community structure and diversity are affected by host plant species and soil depth in the Mu Us Desert, northwest China

ABSTRACTThe vertical diversity and distribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi were investigated in the Mu Us Desert, northwest China. Soils were sampled to 50 cm in depth in the rhizospheres of Hedysarum laeve, Artemisia ordosica, and Psammochloa villosa and 44 AM fungal species belonging to 10 genera were isolated. Several of these species have peculiar morphological features, which are distinct from other habitats. AM fungal diversity and distribution differed significantly among the three host plants and the five soil layers. Spore density, species richness, and the Shannon-Wiener index of AM fungi were 0.55–4.3 spores g−1 soil, 7–36 and 1.78–2.89, respectively. Spore density and species richness had a significant positive correlation with soil total phosphorus content (0.0377–0.1129 mg g−1), and a negative correlation with soil pH (7.19–7.64). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling, PerMANOVA, and structural equation model analysis demonstrated that host plant species and soil depth significantly a...