Effects of salinity and flooding on the infectivity of salt marsh arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Aster tripolium L.

Salt marshes are characterized by the occurrence of combined salinity and flooding stresses. The individual and combined effects of salinity and flooding on the establishment and activity of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization in the salt marsh halophyte Aster tripolium L. by indigenous salt marsh AM fungi were evaluated. A. tripolium plants were cultivated in a mixture of sand and salt marsh soil under different salinity concentrations (5%, 50% or 100% artificial seawater) and water regimes (non-flooding, tidal flooding and continuous flooding). Plants were harvested after 3 and 8 weeks and their growth was negatively influenced by increased salinity and water level. Increased salinity level affected the establishment of AM colonization, AM fungal growth and activity (measured as succinate dehydrogenase activity) within roots, and extraradical mycelium growth. The influence of flooding on the establishment of colonization and on intra- and extraradical AM fungal growth was dependent on the water regime. Continuous flooding reduced colonization and AM fungal growth, whereas tidal flooding did not affect these parameters unless combined with intermediate salinity level (50% seawater) at the end of the experiment. The water regime did not influence AM active colonization. The ratio of root to soil AM fungal growth increased as the water level increased. The results of this study demonstrate that the establishment and activity of AM colonization in A. tripolium is more influenced by salinity than by flooding, and suggests that the functionality of salt marsh AM fungi is not affected by flooding.