Abundance, richness and root colonization of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in natural and semi-natural land use types at upper Hantana

There is a scarcity of published information on the abundance and richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in different natural and semi-natural land use types in Sri Lanka. The Upper Hantana (UH) area, which comprises land use types with different histories, was selected to fulfill this knowledge gap. A study was carried out to investigate the abundance and richness of AMF in selected land use types, including restored pine stand (REP), degraded grassland (DEG), Paraserianthes stand (PST) and natural forest patch (NFP) at Upper Hantana in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, were investigated. The highest AMF spore abundance was observed in the NFP. However, the AMF spore richness was higher in both NFP and REP than in DEG and PST. At NFP, the medium-sized spores dominate the AMF spore population. Furthermore, NFP showed the least evenness in AMF distribution compared to other land use types. Glomus was the most abundant genus in all selected land use types. Acaulospora was observed only in DEG and PST. The colonization potential of AMF varies highly between species and selected land use types with no clear relationship between AMF abundance and root colonization potential. The results speculate that AMF spore abundance is determined by the composition and diversity of the vegetation. The results also revealed that the AMF richness at REP was similar to that of NFP, indicating a positive impact on the below-ground biota within a relatively short period following restoration