 |
Mycorrhizal fungi are a necessary component of a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Disturbance from construction, erosion, and certain agricultural practices can deplete the presence of this organism from the soil. Any natural re-entry of fungi can be slow and often impossible. AM 120 provides a bridge for the return of native host plants. As restoration proceeds, various dynamic functions begin to occur. |
|
Improved survival of most native trees, shrubs, forbs, and grasses:
Mycorrhizae extend root systems 40 times or more for greatly improved water and nutrient absorption. Mycorrhiza are destroyed or greatly reduced by heavy disturbance and soil grading. Adding mycorrhiza back to disturbed sites has consistently increased native plant establishment by 50-100% or more. |
|
Mycorrhiza (Gr. Mykes = Fugus, rhiza = root)
A close physical association between a fungus and the roots of a plant, from which both fungus and plant appear to benefit: a mycorrhizal root takes up nutrients more efficiently than does an uninfected root. A wide range of plants can form mycorrhizas of one form or another, and some plants (e.g.some orchids and some species of Pinus) appear incapable of normal development in the absence of their mycorrhizal fungus.
Oxford Dictionary of Plant Science. |
|
Suppression of weedy non-mycorrhizal plants:
The close association between the host plants and fungi restrict growth of non-host weeds. This is due to the efficient uptake and storage of plant nutrients and water by the fungi for the native plants and by allelopathy. |
|
More efficient use of available moisture and nutrient supplies:
By radically increasing a plants' effective root systems, mycorrhiza increase the ability of plants to survive and tolerate dry or low nutrient soils. Mycorrhiza have been shown to directly mineralize nutrients from the soil and help decompose and scavenge nutrients from organic material. Mycorrhizae help mitigate nutrient runoff concerns and the need for repeated fertilizer applications. |
|
Increased soil biota activity:
The several miles of mycorrhiza filaments that occupy each square meter of soil breakdown organic matter, stimulate other beneficial organisms such as Trichoderma and act as a conduit by which beneficial microorganisms can associate throughout the root zone. |
|
Improved soil aggregation and aeration:
Mycorrhiza produces "glomalin", a substance that acts as a soil-binding agent, improving particle aggregation. This leads to a more stable soil with improved drainage and greater resistance to erosion. |
|
Carbon sequestering:
Up to 30% of the soils' biomass is a result of mycorrhiza activity. Mycorrhiza increase their production of organic material at elevated carbon dioxide levels. |
