Functional aspects of Mycorrhizal Fungi in C, N, and S translocation in the soil-plant system with special emphasis on nurse-tree systems

This ongoing work is part of an ecosystem study conducted by soil scientists, geobotanists, plant ecophysiologists, and mycologists that aims at a scientific basis for a sustainable management of the Munessa forest as a model for other semi-deciduous forests in Ethiopia. The work shall be continued in separate working packages. The present working package will investigate the function of the mycorrhiza of different indigenous (Podocarpus falcatus, Croton macrostachys) and exotic plantation trees (Eucalyptus saligna, E. globulus, Pinus patula) with special emphasis on the “nurse-tree effect” of old plantation trees on juvenile indigenous trees. Employing stable isotope labelling techniques (¹³C, ¹⁵N, ³⁴S) in defined laboratory experiments and in the field, this working package aims at identifying and quantifying the role of the mycorrhiza in the element uptake by the trees and the carbon flow from the trees to the soil. Of particular interest is the possible role of common mycorrhizal networks concerning the nurse-tree effect. The studies will be carried out in close collaboration with mycologists, dealing with the structural aspects of mycorrhiza, and with plant ecophysiologists, focussing on the nurse-tree effect in general.

Contact person
Prof. Georg Guggenberger, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences
georg.guggenberger@landw.uni-halle.de

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