Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi diversity in soils of different crops farming in the Puna (North Argentina)

Soil ecosystems and its functioning are under the threat of biodiversity lost by the increase of cultivated areas and agronomic exploitation intensity. Changes in land use alter the structure and functioning of ecosystems where biodiversity plays a vital role in the ecosystem-services (ES) provision. Arbuscular-Mycorrhizal-Fungi (AMF) are a key soil biota functional group with an important potential to contribute to crop productivity and implement of new strategies for sustainable production. The different land uses and soil types affect the AMF diversity and their function in the community. Despite the significant relationship between AMF diversity, land uses and its ES, there are very few studies focused in ES of AMF in Latin America. The Puna is an arid-high plateau where plants experience high abiotic-stresses and unique extreme distinctive environmental conditions. The aim of this work was to analyze in Chaupi Rodeo (Jujuy, Argentina), AMF diversity (spores total number, spore-taxa richness) in 3 crops species usually farming by people settlement: native corn, bean and native potato, under a familiar land use, without the supplements of agrochemicals but with different histories of crops rotation. Each crop species has 3 plots replicates; in each plot, 5 subsamples were taken. The total number of AMF spores/100g of dry-soil were isolated and counted for each sample under dissecting-microscope. Preliminary results indicate that AMF spores were most abundant in corn plots, followed by potato and bean. The number of AMF taxa morphologies was high and variable (20 to 4) and spores were single, aggregate or forming sporocarps with peridium. A high AMF diversity was confirmed by Illumina Miseq data on the same plots showing more than 30 molecular OTUs affiliated to different AMF genera/species. Overall the results suggest that the AMF diversity changes could be due to the rotation histories, with less effect of the species of crops.