Effect of Soil Microbiome from Church Forest in the Northwest Ethiopian Highlands on the Growth of Olea europaea and Albizia gummifera Seedlings under Glasshouse Conditions

Loss of beneficial microbes and lack of native inoculum have hindered reforestation efforts in the severely-degraded lands worldwide. This is a particularly pressing problem for Ethiopia owing to centuries-old unsustainable agricultural practices. This study aimed to evaluate the inoculum potential of soils from church forest in the northwest highlands of Ethiopia and its effect on seedling growth of two selected native tree species (Olea europaea and Albizia gummifera) under a glasshouse environment. Seedlings germinated in a seed chamber were transplanted into pots containing sterilized and/or non-sterilized soils collected from under the canopy of three dominant church forest trees: Albizia gummifera (AG), Croton macrostachyus (CM), and Juniperus procera (JP) as well as from adjacent degraded land (DL). A total of 128 pots (2 plant species × 4 soil origins × 2 soil treatments × 8 replicates) were arranged in a factorial design. Overall, seedlings grown in AG, CM, and JP soils showed a higher plant performance and survival rate, as a result of higher soil microbial abundance and diversity, than those grown in DL soils. The results showed significantly higher plant height, root collar diameter, shoot, and total mass for seedlings grown in non-sterilized forest soils than those grown in sterilized soils. Furthermore, the bacterial relative abundance of Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Nitrospirae was significantly higher in the non-sterilized forest soils AG, CM, and JP (r2 = 0.6–0.8, p < 0.001). Soil pH had a strong effect on abundance of the bacterial community in the church forest soils. More specifically, this study further demonstrated that the effect of soil microbiome was noticeable on the performance of Olea seedlings grown in the soil from CM. This suggests that the soils from remnant church forests, particularly from the canopy under CM, can serve as a good soil origin, which possibly would promote the native tree seedling growth and survival in degraded lands.

Download Full-text

Relationships Between Seed Biomass, Germination Time, and Seedling Growth in Olea europaea

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.39.4.788a ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 788A-788

Author(s):

Rinaldi Laura*

Keyword(s):

Seedling Growth ◽

Olea Europaea ◽

Root Traits ◽

Nutrient Content ◽

Mineral Nutrient ◽

Germination Time ◽

Seed Biomass ◽

Breeding Programmes ◽

High Concentrations ◽

Olea Europaéa

Olive plants for commercial production are vegetatively propagated by cutting and grafting. While genetic identity can be maintained by “own root”; plants by cutting, the grafted plants may show different growth characteristics due to the influence of the rootstock. The selection of mother plants, able to produce seeds with desirable characteristics and rootstocks that may control seedling growth in grafted stock, can be an objective of study to facilitate the development of olive breeding programmes. The relationship between seed biomass, mineral nutrient reserves, time to germination and seedling growth was analysed for six cultivars of Olea europaea. The cultivars, exhibiting initial differences in seed biomass, differed significantly with respect to germination capacity, germination time and mineral content. Significant variation among cultivars was also evident in the linear growth of seedlings, evaluated at different intervals from 2 to 30 weeks. The seeds from all six cultivars exhibited low germination. There is a significant effect of cultivar on the levels of single mineral nutrient content of seeds, high concentrations of N and significant concentrations of K, P, Mg, and Ca were detected. Seed biomass was not related to time to germination and the levels of single nutrients of the seeds themselves. For seed tissue, significantly positive correlations existed only between K, and Mg concentrations. Seed biomass was positively and significantly related to root biomass. The seedlings obtained from larger seeds showed a substantially greater proportion of biomass to roots. Some root traits may be important for survival and the establishment of the seedlings, not least under conditions of limited water availability.

Download Full-text

Development and resistance to Verticillium dahliae of olive plantlets inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi during the nursery period

The Journal of Agricultural Science ◽

10.1017/s0021859606005880 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 144 (2) ◽

pp. 151-157 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

A. PORRAS-SORIANO ◽

I. MARCILLA-GOLDARACENA ◽

M. L. SORIANO-MARTÍN ◽

A. PORRAS-PIEDRA

Keyword(s):

Verticillium Dahliae ◽

Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽

Olea Europaea ◽

Glomus Mosseae ◽

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽

Am Fungi ◽

Higher Plant ◽

La Mancha ◽

Better Than ◽

Olea Europaéa

The current study, performed in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) in 2003–04, reports the growth, nutrition, tolerance to transplanting stress, and resistance to Verticillium dahliae of olive plantlets (Olea europaea L.) inoculated with different arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (Glomus mosseae, G. intraradices and G. claroideum). Inoculated plants tolerated the stress of transplanting better than non-inoculated plants. Compared with controls, plantlets inoculated with any of these three Glomus species grew taller, had more and longer shoots, and showed higher plant N, P and K concentrations. However, colonization seemed to have no influence on resistance to V. dahliae.

Download Full-text