01.12.2012 Views

Symbiotic Fungi: Principles and Practice (Soil Biology)

Symbiotic Fungi: Principles and Practice (Soil Biology)

Symbiotic Fungi: Principles and Practice (Soil Biology)

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

296 J. Álvarez-Sánchez et al.<br />

Ecosystem<br />

Function<br />

assignation of biomass <strong>and</strong> leaf area as well as survival. All are important components<br />

in plant adaptation <strong>and</strong>, thus, determine their establishment success in deteriorated<br />

environments. Our proposal is based on the fact that to succeed in rain<br />

forest restoration two simultaneous activities are necessary.<br />

1. Continue AMF ecology studies with greenhouse <strong>and</strong> field experiments. This has<br />

allowed us to underst<strong>and</strong> their role in plant species growth, the variation in space<br />

<strong>and</strong> time, <strong>and</strong> other aspects such as mycorrhizae dependency in light-dem<strong>and</strong>ing<br />

species. Such is the case of Heliocarpus appendiculatus in a Mexican tropical<br />

rainforest (Guadarrama et al. 2004), <strong>and</strong> of Oyedaea verbesinoides in Venezuela<br />

(Flores <strong>and</strong> Cuenca 2004) (Fig. 18.1).<br />

2. Carry out specific restoration projects considering anthropogenic effects <strong>and</strong><br />

local social participation. This allows the acceleration of secondary succession<br />

by an integral ecosystem management process (Castillo et al. 2005) which<br />

includes human impact (Fig. 18.1).<br />

18.3 Case Study<br />

18.3.1 Study Site<br />

AMF inocula.<br />

Site conditions<br />

Ecosystem<br />

(Modified from Bradshaw 1997)<br />

Degraded<br />

Restoration<br />

Original<br />

Ecosystem<br />

Life history traits.<br />

Mycorrhizal<br />

dependence. AMF<br />

effects on growth<br />

<strong>and</strong> survivorship<br />

Ecosystem structure<br />

Fig. 18.1 Use of ecological theory <strong>and</strong> specific projects (ecological restoration) with arbuscular<br />

mycorrhizal fungi for improving ecosystem restoration (modified from Bradshaw 1997)<br />

The study was carried out at a pasturel<strong>and</strong> near ‘‘Los Tuxtlas’’ Tropical <strong>Biology</strong><br />

Station that belongs to the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, located in

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!