Native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi promote native grassland diversity and suppress weeds 4 years following inoculation

Restoration quality of native prairie can be improved by reintroducing key organisms from the native plant microbiome such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Here, we assess whether the positive effects of a native mycorrhizal inoculation observed during the first growing season remained at the end of the fourth growing season. In 2016, an experiment was initiated that assessed the response of a restored tallgrass prairie to an inoculation density gradient of native mycorrhizal fungi ranging from 0 to 8,192 kg/ha. First year results indicated that native plant establishment benefited from high but not low densities of native mycorrhizal inocula, resulting in improvements in native plant abundance, richness, and diversity. To assess whether these effects persist in later growing seasons, we resampled the prairie restoration in 2020 and analyzed the data similarly. Results from the fourth growing season indicated that the pattern of responses had persisted; the positive effects of inoculation observed during the first growing season remained after four growing seasons as demonstrated by improvements in total and native plant diversity and reduced non-native abundance. Additionally, the low densities of mycorrhizal amendment that were not initially effective were found to reduce non-native abundance in the fourth growing season, suggesting that low densities of mycorrhizal amendment can be amplified via positive plant-AM fungal feedback to suppress weeds following the introduction of lesser amounts of AM fungi.

Automated summary

The restoration quality of native prairies can be enhanced by reintroducing key organisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi from the native plant microbiome. This study evaluated the long-term effects of native mycorrhizal inoculation by assessing a restored tallgrass prairie after four growing seasons. The results showed that high densities of native mycorrhizal inocula improved native plant abundance, richness, and diversity, while low densities had no significant effect. Furthermore, low densities of mycorrhizal amendment were found to reduce non-native abundance, suggesting a positive plant-fungi feedback mechanism in suppressing weeds.