ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, vol.21, no.2, pp.301-310, 2006 (SCI-Expanded)
The mycorrhizal status of dune plant species in
relation to their plant life forms was surveyed along a
successional gradient of sand dune on the southern
Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Roots of 64 dune plant
species belonging to 30 families were collected from sand
dune communities at four different successional stages:
embryonic dunes (ED), mobile dunes (MD), fixed dunes
(FD), and remnant dunes (RD). Of the plant species
surveyed in all successional stages, 54 (84%) had formed
mycorrhizal associations. Nonmycorrhizal plants with
cryptophyte life forms predominated in the earlier successional
stages (ED and MD), whereas the number and
percent coverage of mycorrhizal plant species belonging
to hemicryptophytes, phanerophytes, and chamaephytes
generally increased with the stabilization of sand dunes.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization was found
to be the dominant mycorrhizal type in ED, MD, and
RD. But phanerophytes with dual colonization, AM and
ectomycorrhizal, became the dominant life form with
high plant coverage in the FD stage. Total percentage of
mycorrhizal root length colonization showed significant
positive correlations relating to soil parameters such as
organic matter and nitrogen content, while negatively
correlating to high soil reaction (pH).