Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi of Different Plant Species Grown in Three Land Use Types in Wensho and Shebidino Districts of Sidama in Southern Ethiopia

Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) of culturally protected forest, agroforestry practices, and mono-cropping lands has been investigated in Wensho and Shebedino districts of Sidama Zone in Southern Ethiopia. Rhizosphere soil and root samples of plant components from each land use type were analyzed for spore density, diversity and AM-root colonization. Except some non-mycorrhizal plants, all plants surveyed in the three land-use types showed AMF colonization ranging from 50 to 91%. A total of 29 AMF morphospecies, belonging to nine genera ( Acaulospora, Glomus, Claroideoglomus, Funneliformis, Pacispora, Septoglomus, Rhizophugus, Scutellospora and Gigaspora ), were identified in the rhizospheres of selected plants in the three land uses. Spores of four genera Rhizophugus, Glomus, Funneliformis, and Acaulospora had higher spore production, accounting for 36.22%, 21.20%, 19.39%, 17.54% and 11.74% of the total number of spores respectively. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that spore density and root colonization of different AM structures varied greatly among plant species both within and between different land-use types. Spore density was higher in culturally protected forest and AM colonization was higher in the agroforestry. The lowest number of spores and the lowest percentage of root colonization were recorded in cropland. When land use types were considered separately or together no significant correlation between spore densities and AM colonization was observed. The result of the study indicates that mono-cropping reduces spore density and AM colonization in comparison with the culturally protected forest and the agroforestry.