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How mycorrhizal associations and plant density influence intra- and inter-specific competition in two tropical tree species: Cabralea canjerana (Vell.) Mart. and Lafoensia pacari A.St.-Hil.

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Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) associations benefit host plants due to increased ability to obtain resources and hence may influence competitive interactions. Here we experimentally examine growth in Cabralea canjerana and Lafoensia pacari at different densities and with and without AMF. In the density treatment pots had either six or 12 individuals. Half of each treatment was innoculated with AMF and the other half was not. The proportion of each species in each pot was also varied. The AMF did not apparently influence interspecific competitive interactions because growth was similar in both treatments. However, intra-specific competition was very strong in C. canjerana while more moderate in L. pacari and both were influenced by the presence of the AMF. The AMF—Cabralea canjerana interaction was parasitic, while AMF—L. pacari interactions were mutualistic. Thus, dependence upon AMF and intraspecific interactions that result as a consequence of that dependence varies among species and may be an important influence in community structure.

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Abbreviations

AMF:

arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

ANOVA:

analysis of variance

C:

carbon

C. canjerana :

Cabralea canjerana

Cii :

development (biomass) of species i when grown in monoculture

Cij :

development (biomass) of species i when grown in mixture with species j

Cji :

development (biomass) of species j when grown in mixture with species i

Cjj :

development (biomass) of species j when grown in monoculture

FURB:

Universidade Regional de Blumenau

H2O2 :

hydrogen peroxide

HCl:

Hydrochloric acid

KOH:

potassium hydroxide

L. pacari :

Lafoensia pacari

M:

mycorrhizal plants

NM:

non-mycorrhizal plants

P:

phosphorus

RY:

relative yields

TD:

total density

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Universidade Regional de Blumenau (FURB) for its support, as well as its Botany, Biotechnology, Immunology and Zoology laboratories and the Chemistry Department, for their support and use of their facilities. Thanks to professors Geraldo Moretto and Carlos Efrain for their help with statistics. Thanks to the Tutorial Education Program (PET/Biologia) for the financial support and the incentive for research that it enabled. James J. Roper translated this text from the original Portuguese.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Caixa Postal 19031, CEP: 81531-980, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Aline Danieli-Silva

  2. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária—EMBRAPA Amapá, Rodovia Juscelino Kubitschek, 2.600, CEP 68903-419, Macapá, AP, Brazil

    Alexandre Uhlmann

  3. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Caixa Postal 15007, CEP: 91540-000, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    José Vicente-Silva

  4. Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Caixa Postal 1507, CEP: 89010-971, Blumenau, SC, Brazil

    Sidney Luiz Stürmer

Authors
  1. Aline Danieli-Silva
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  2. Alexandre Uhlmann
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  3. José Vicente-Silva
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  4. Sidney Luiz Stürmer
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Correspondence to Aline Danieli-Silva.

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Danieli-Silva, A., Uhlmann, A., Vicente-Silva, J. et al. How mycorrhizal associations and plant density influence intra- and inter-specific competition in two tropical tree species: Cabralea canjerana (Vell.) Mart. and Lafoensia pacari A.St.-Hil.. Plant Soil 330, 185–193 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-0191-y

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