A note on the effect of soil tillage on the frequency and vertical distribution of spores of vesicular-arbuscular endophytes

Abstract

Spores of vesicular-arbuscular endophytes resembling Acaulospora laezis and Glomus monospovus were common in the surface layers of a soil under wheat and pasture, declining in numbers down the profile until rare at 500 mm. Tillage had no effect on total spore numbers, but directly drilled wheat had more spores in the surface 80 mm and fewer from 80 mm to 150 mm than conventionally tilled plots. This is thought to be a consequence of mechanical inversion of the soil during cultivation.