Grassland Degradation Decrease the Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Species in Tibet Plateau

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi play a vital role in restoration of an ecosystem. Grassland degradation in alpine steppe is severe, but the influence of grassland degradation on AM fungi composition in Tibetan Plateau is still not well understood. This research studied the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in degraded alpine steppe, dominated by Stipa purpurea. The results showed that the species richness and abundance of AM fungi in degraded grasslands significantly decreased. In different typical grasslands species, diversity of AM fungi genus Glomus was much higher than other genera (Acaulospora and Scutellospora). Compared with normal grassland, the AM fungal species diversity in moderately degraded grassland decreased by 30%, but in lightly degraded and severely degraded grassland, it highly increased with 15.3% and 13.3%, respectively. The species diversity of genus Glomus in moderately degraded grassland and lightly degraded grassland were higher than for normal grassland. Significant differences were observed in a relative abundance of common dominant species among different degraded grasslands. The proportion of dominant species highly increased with the aggravation of grassland degradation. The results suggest that the grassland mild degradation increased the adaptability and stress resistance of species.