Survival of mesquite (Prosopis laevigata) and huizache (Acacia farnesiana), previously inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was analyzed in field conditions during one year. The plants were cultivated for nine months in a greenhouse, two months in a nursery, and then they were transplanted in a deteriorated xeric shrub ecosystem located in Actopan Valley, Hidalgo State, Mexico. Each individual (either inoculated or not inoculated with AMF), was transplanted under the cover of one of eight nurse plant species forming resource islands, in order to evaluate the effects of mycorrhizal inoculum and nurse plant identity on plant establishment and survival during the dry period (October to April). Overall, results show that inoculated mesquite and huizache plants had a significant increase in percent survival, raising from 19 to 54% for P. laevigata, and from 18 to 48% for A. farnesiana. Regarding nurse plant identity, i.e. resource island type, there were not significant differences in percent survival of transplanted individuals. The experiment also showed that inoculated plants had a larger number of pinnae than their controls. On this basis, inoculation of seedlings with AMF is recommended to restore deteriorated semi-arid ecosystems
Functional metabolic diversity of the bacterial community in undisturbed resource island soils in the southern Sonoran Desert
