DO THEY REFLECT IMPACTS TO MYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL INOCULUM AND PLANT ESTABLISHMENT?
Bureau of Land Management Collaborators: Thomas O’Dell, National Park Service; Bala Chaudhary, NAU graduate student; Andrea Redman, NAU technician The Bureau of Land Management Rangeland Health standards mandate assessment of grazing allotments by evaluating a standard set of qualitative indicators, including several indicators of soil and site stability. However, the ecological implications of rating sites high or low in the assessment have not been experimentally tested so we can not substantiate the value of the assessment protocol for determining impacts on ecological processes. One consequence of soil loss (an indicator assessed in the protocol) is that propagules (spores, hyphae, and colonized root fragments) of mycorrhizal fungi may be reduced. Because most perennial plants require mycorrhizal symbioses for water and nutrient acquisition, a reduction in mycorrhizal fungal propagules could lead to lower recruitment of native plants on sites with poor soil stability. This study co
