Effects of symbiosis with two species of arbuscular mycorrhiza on some morphological and physiological characteristics of rangeland grass, Agropyron elongatum (Host). Beauv

Mycorrhiza is a symbiosis between plants and some soil-borne fungi which plays a crucial role in sustainable crop production, soil fertility and rangeland restoration. Due to such roles in plant growth, health improvement and soil aggregation enhancement, arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) is becoming a tool in agricultural and environmental practices. To examine the potential impact of AM in rangeland restoration, the symbiosis effect of two AM species on some morphological and physiological characteristics of Agropyron elongatum was analyzed. The experiment was performed under greenhouse condition at Malayer University in a completely randomized design with two treatments and twenty replications. The morphological characteristics of plants i.e. stem length, wet and dry weight of aerial parts and also physiological characteristics, including photosynthetic pigments content, total phenol content and content of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus elements were measured. The results showed that both species of AM, especially R. intraradices, are highly competent to improve the morphological and physiological characteristics of A. elongatum. In other words, F. mosseae, enhanced morphological traits i.e. stem length, wet and dry weight of aerial parts in inoculated plants up to 318, 240 and 220 percent, respectively. Also, the aforementioned fungus, improved the content of phenol, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotene, up to 134, 131, 162, 181, 172, 178, 174 and 175 percent, respectively. On the other hand, R. intraradices promoted, stem length, wet and dry weight of aerial parts almost 474, 325 and 317 percent respectively. The incremental effects of R. intraradices on the content of phenol, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotene were about 153, 172, 163, 244, 337, 251, 246 and 250 percent. Therefore, R. intraradices, as a better partner for symbiosis with tall wheatgrass, is recommended for restoration of degraded pastures.