Short-term waterlogging increases arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species richness and shifts community composition

AIMS: Our aim was to investigate the effects of short-term waterlogging in shaping communities of the obligately aerobic AMF in roots of Populus deltoides. METHODS: AMF community in populus roots was deciphered with 454-pyrosequencing method from a field plot before and after 15Â days waterlogging. RESULTS: We found that short-term waterlogging significantly altered the AMF community as confirmed with NMDS. Indicator species analysis identified 12 AMF OTUs that shown with different relative abundance between before and after waterlogging. In contrast to expectation, short-term waterlogging increased detectable AMF species richness: 4 OTUs were detected only before and 17 only after waterlogging. CONCLUSIONS: Variation in abundance of dominant OTUs was possibly due to short-term waterlogging disturbance and the role of competitive release in the increase in species richness following waterlogging.