Arbuscular mycorrhiza of herbs colonizing a salt affected area near Kraków (Poland)

The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) status of plants colonizing an area affected by leakage of salty water (Barycz near Kraków, Poland) was studied in 2000 and 2001. The occurrence of plants typical for soils of increased salinity was observed. Among the 13 examined plant species 7 were mycorrhizal. The abundance of mycorrhizal plant populations was increased in the second year of study. Strains of 4 species of AMF, including Glomus caledonium, G. claroideum, G. geosporum and G. intraradices were isolated using trap cultures. On the basis of morphological characters the presence of G. tenue was detected in plant roots of several species from the study area. The efficiency of mycorrhizal colonization and arbuscule formation by two strains of G. geosporum isolated from a saline area and a strain of G. intraradices from unaffected sites was tested in an experiment carried out on Plantago lanceolata cultivated on substrata of different salinity levels. The increase in mycorrhizal parameters with growing salt content was observed in the case of strains originating from the salt-affected area. At the highest salt level these strains formed better developed mycorrhiza than the strain from the non-saline site, suggesting a better adaptation of the strains from the saline area. The data on vitality (alkaline phosphatase test) of intraradical AM fungi gave a clearer picture than those obtained by the conventional aniline blue staining