Soil properties and actinorhizal vegetation influence nodulation of Alnus glutinosa and Elaeagnus angustifolia by Frankia

• Published in: Plant and soil Vol. 140; no. 2; pp. 197 - 204
• Main Authors: ZITZER, STEPHEN F., DAWSON, JEFFREY O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Kluwer Academic Publishers 01-02-1992; Springer
• Subjects: Agricultural soils; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Alfisols; Alnus glutinosa; Biological and medical sciences; Economic plant physiology; Elaeagnus; Forest soils; formation de nodosites; Frankia; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Mollisols; nodulacion; Nodulation; Nodules; Plants; root nodulation; Seedlings; Soil pollution; Symbiosis (nodules, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, mycorrhiza...); United States; North America; Illinois; America; Upland areas; Frankiaceae; Environmental factor; Frankia; Field experiment; Actinomycetales; Elaeagnaceae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; pH; Bacteria; Actinorrhiza; Hardwood forest tree; Lowland; Betulaceae; Symbiosis; Symbionte; Alfisols; Alnus glutinosa; Property of soil; Nodulation; Mollisols; Vegetation effect; Edaphic factor; Soils; Actinomycetes; Spermatophyta
• ISSN: 0032-079X; 1573-5036
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00010597

Nodulation (mean number of nodules per seedling) was 5 times greater for Elaeagnus angustifolia than for Alnus glutinosa overall when seedlings were grown in pots containing either an upland or an alluvial soil from central Illinois, USA. However, the upland Alfisol had 1.3 times greater nodulation capacity for A. glutinosa than for E. angustifolia. The presence of A. glutinosa trees on either soil was associated with a two-fold increase in nodulation capacity for E. angustifolia. Nodulation increases for soils under A. glutinosa were obtained for A. glutinosa seedlings in the Alfisol, but decreased nodulation for A. glutinosa seedlings occurred in the Mollisol. Greatest nodulation of E. angustifolia seedlings occurred near pH 6.6 for soil pH values ranging from 4.9 to 7.1, while greatest nodulation of A. glutinosa occurred at pH 4.9 over the same pH range. Nodulation was not affected by total soil nitrogen concentrations ranging from 0.09 to 0.20%. Mollisol pH was significantly lower under A. glutinosa trees than under E. angustifolia trees. For 4-to 8-year-old field-grown trees, A. glutinosa nodule weights were negatively correlated with soil pH, while for similar aged E. angustifolia trees nodulation in the acidic Alfisol was not detected.