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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] perennial native grasses->mycorrhizae

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  • From: Steve Diver <steved@ipa.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] perennial native grasses->mycorrhizae
  • Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 11:10:51 -0500 (GMT-05:00)

Paul -

The passage you found in that PDF regarding environmental
impact under the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest
web page was a passing comment in a large document.

Annual crops and grasses and cereals are very commonly
associated with VAM mycorrhizae, also called AM Fungi for
arbuscular mycorrhizae, also called endomycorrhizae.

It is commonly estimated that 80% to 95% of the 300,000
species of vascular plants, including grasses, broadleaves,
shrubs, and trees form endomycorrhizal associations with
plant roots. About 160 species of very specifc fungi form
these AM fungal associations.

The other broad group of mycorrhizae, the ectomycorrhizae,
form associations with tree roots in about two dozen genera
(e.g., Abies, Picea, Pinus, Alnus, Betula, Fagus, Populus,
Quercus, Salix, Tsuga). But remember these tree species
comprise the vast forests stretching around the world, and
over 5,000 to 6,000 species of fungi form ectomycorrhizal
associations with these tree roots.

Among the technical resources I've compiled on mycorrhizae,
the following paragraph on propagating on-farm mycorrhizal
inoculum sums up the ability to use annual crops, cereals,
and legumes to colonize mycorrhizae in rotation or to harvest
inoculum as infected roots, fungal hyphae, and spores in pot
culture.

"Some of the best known hosts for mycorrhizal colonization
-- both pot culture and field culture -- include bahia grass,
sudan grass, sorghum, corn, millet, carrots, white clover,
subterranean clover, sunflower, oats, and barley."

At the same time, I've heard that certain native grasses
do much better or are wholly dependent on mycorrhizal
associations.... fungal symbiosis in nature is a vast topic.

Steve Diver



-----Original Message-----
>From: TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net>
>Sent: Aug 16, 2006 10:03 PM
>To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>Subject: [Livingontheland] perennial native grasses
>
>
>I located this reference that says perennial native grasses form
>mycorrhyzal associations, and annual grasses do not. Is this true in all
>cases? I have a perenial native grass and I'm using the sod in new
>permanent beds. I'll add winter cover crp seed on a soil layer but I want
>to be sure I'm getting virgin humus from the grass sod.
>
>from
>http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/rogue-siskiyou/projects/watershed/ashlandpdfs/awpp7.
>pdf
>







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