ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. For. Glob. Change
Sec. Forest Soils
Volume 8 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2025.1680540
This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing Woody Plant Growth and Resilience Through Nature-Based SolutionsView all 10 articles
Responses of rhizosphere soil nutrients to phosphorus addition and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation in karst plantations
Provisionally accepted
- Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China
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Compared with natural restoration, the recovery of soil ecological function in plantations is relatively lagging behind. Exogenous phosphorus (P) input and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation could eliminate or alleviate nutrient limitation in soil for plants. However, the differences in AMF community structure associated with P addition and AMF inoculation and their effects on soil nutrients remain unclear. The rhizosphere is vital for plant productivity and soil ecosystem function. Based on in situ P addition (Ca(H2PO4)2 fertilizer) and AMF inoculation (Rhizophagus intraradices inoculant) treatments in plantations in typical karst areas in Hunan Province, China, stratified rhizosphere soil samples of 0–15 and 15–30 cm were collected to determine alkaliolytic nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), soil organic carbon (SOC) contents, and AMF community composition. The corresponding non-rhizosphere soil samples were collected with cutting rings to determine their physical properties. After P addition, AP contents in 0–15 and 15–30 cm layers increased significantly. In addition, contents of AN in 0–15 and 15–30 cm layers and SOC in 0–15 cm layer increased, with no significant changes. After AMF inoculation, contents of AP in 15–30 cm layer and SOC in 0–15 cm layer increased, with no significant changes. P addition and AMF inoculation increased AMF colonization intensity significantly in the roots, in turn altering the relative abundance in AMF community, and increasing Chao1 richness, Pielou's evenness, Simpson, and Shannon diversity indices. Compared with the control, the relationships between soil nutrients and other properties varied after P addition and AMF inoculation. The effects of AMF community relative abundance and diversity on soil nutrients changed after P addition and AMF inoculation, with explanations for soil nutrient variations of the former both decreasing and the latter both increasing. The results clarify the responses of rhizosphere soil properties to exogenous P input and AMF inoculation in plantations in karst areas. This can facilitate soil ecological function restoration and sustainable recovery of fragile ecosystems.
Keywords: Amf inoculation, Karst ecosystem, Plantation, P addition, Soil nutrient
Received: 06 Aug 2025; Accepted: 06 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Hu, Li and He. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Miaomiao Wang, miaomiaowang@csuft.edu.cn
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