ICOM1 Abstract

CHARVAT, IRIS, ALYCIA KLUENENBERG & JUDI TAMASI. Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, 220 Biological Sciences, 1445 Gortner Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108- 1095. - Comparison of AMF spores at two wetland ecosystems at different stages of succession The restoration of native wetland/prairie plant communities has received considerable attention in recent years. Roadside projects need to be carried out with more information about the status of the edaphic and the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) parameters. This study determined several edaphic physical characteristics and the seasonal fluctuation of the AMF spores at two sites: a recently created wetland at an early stage of succession and an undisturbed wetland at a later stage of succession. Both of these wetlands are adjacent to roadways near Cambridge, Minnesota. The soil characteristics analyzed included nutrient composition, amount of organic matter, percent water, density and pH. The amount of total carbon, the percent organic matter, and the percent water by volume of the soil was greater at the undisturbed wetland. Soil samples were cored at five time periods during the year and the spores were isolated from the dried soil and quantified. The undisturbed wetland had a considerably greater fluctuation of spores per gram of dried soil than the newly created wetland had. Fall was the peak time for spore numbers at the undisturbed wetland, but no significant difference between time periods was present at the newly created one. The biological and physical tests employed in this study will be used in the future to evaluate the condition of the recently created wetland at progressive stages of succession.