Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and nematodes in a 14 years no-tillage chronosequence

Abstract We evaluated the effects of the conversion of native areas of the Cerrado to no-tillage on the population of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and nematodes. Three areas under no-tillage (7, 11 and 14 years of cultivation) were evaluated and compared to adjacent areas of the Cerrado not impacted by agriculture. Results indicated that although no-tillage is a conservation system, it has either slightly reduced, slightly improved, or maintained the taxonomic and functional diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and nematodes, even after 14 years of cultivation. In addition, cultivated areas presented reduced diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and increased occurrence of plant parasitic nematodes. The observed differences could be a result of both disturbance to the soil structure through agriculture and reduced plant diversity in the soybean-corn rotation, as compared to the adjacent uncultivated Cerrado.