Structure of AMF community in an agroforestry system of coffee and macauba palm

Abstract

Coffee crop in Brazil is typically grown as a monoculture. However, we hypothesized that agroforestry system is favorable association for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), affecting its community structure and potentially impacting crop productivity and agroecosystem health. This study evaluated how the microclimate, soil depth, macauba field spacing and distance between coffee plants and palms affect the structure of the AMF community. The structure of the AMF community was influenced by the soil depth, microclimate features, soil moisture, maximum air temperature, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). The distance at which coffee-macauba influences ecological diversity indices of AMF, and higher diversity are related to the proximity between plants. AMF diversity (Richness and Shannon) in the agroforestry system exceeded that observed in the full-sun coffee in the 0-20 soil depth layer. Our results showed that the microclimate, soil depth, plant density, and distance between coffee from macauba affected the AMF community structure.