Relationship between environmental factors, colonization and abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with Amygdalus scoparia in Zagros forests

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between environmental factors and arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF). For this purpose, soil samples were randomly collected in the rhizosphere of almond trees (from 0-30 cm) in the Meleh-Ruteh region, Darehshahr city. There were 7 species of AMF including; Glomus fasciculatum, G. intraradices, G. mosseae, G. claroideum, G. drummondi, G. caledonium and Gigaspora giganteain this region. Two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) distinguished two different groups that G.fasciculatum and G.caledonium were the indicator species of the first and G. mosseae, G. drummondi and Gi. gigantea were the indicator species of the second group. Also, DCA analysis showed that the first group had positive correlation with clay and bulk density, while the second group had positive correlation with sand, organic matter, total nitrogen, magnesium and litter depth. The results also showed that colonization and abundance of spores had positive correlation with total N, organic carbon, potassium, litter depth and tree height and negative with silt, phosphorus and bulk density.