Impact of abiotic factors on development of the community of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the soil: a Review

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inhabiting soil play an important role for vascular plants. Interaction between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plants and soil microorganisms leads to many mutual advantages. However, the effectiveness of mycorrhizal fungi depends not only on biotic, but also abiotic factors such as physico-chemical properties of the soil, availability of water and biogenic elements, agricultural practices, and climatic conditions. First of all, it is important to adapt the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi species to changing environmental conditions. The compactness of the soil and its structure have a huge impact on its biological activity. Soil pH reaction has a substantial impact on the mobility of ions in soil dilutions and their uptake by plants and soil microflora. Water excess can be a factor negatively affecting arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi because these microorganisms are sensitive to a lower availability of oxygen. Mechanical cultivation of the soil has a marginal impact on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi spores. However, soil translocation can cause changes to the population of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi abundance in the soil profile. The geographical location and topographic differentiation of cultivated soils, as well as the variability of climatic factors affect the population of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the soils and their symbiotic activity.