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Arbuscular Mycorrhizae of Phormium Tenax in a restored New Zealand wetland across hydrological gradients

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thesis
posted on 2021-11-22, 22:42 authored by Coles, Alexandra

New Zealand has lost over 90% of its former wetlands and many that remain are in a degraded state. Restoration projects are often impeded by the failure of native plants to establish back into non-native dominated communities. Phormium tenax is fast growing and acts a nurse plant in wetlands, accelerating the establishment of slower growing native woody species. The roles of below ground organisms are increasingly recognised as affecting plant community dynamics, and this study investigates the diversity of a group of pervasive organisms, the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), growing in symbiosis with Phormium tenax. Next generation sequencing was used to create two libraries to determine the sensitivity of coding and non-coding molecular markers when characterising the AMF community associated with Phormium tenax.  AMF communities colonising individual plants were found to be diverse, and varied across restoration stages, but uncorrelated with soil moisture. The composition of of AMF communities changed seasonally and I observed more AMF hyphae and arbuscules in winter.

History

Copyright Date

2017-01-01

Date of Award

2017-01-01

Publisher

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

Rights License

Author Retains Copyright

Degree Discipline

Ecology and Biodiversity

Degree Grantor

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

Degree Level

Masters

Degree Name

Master of Science

ANZSRC Type Of Activity code

1 PURE BASIC RESEARCH

Victoria University of Wellington Item Type

Awarded Research Masters Thesis

Language

en_NZ

Alternative Title

AMF in a restored NZ wetland

Victoria University of Wellington School

School of Biological Sciences

Advisors

Deslippe, Julie; Hartley, Stephen