The effects of road building on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity in Huangshan Scenic Area.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are vital soil microbes that connect many individual plants into a large functional organism via a vast mycelial network under the ground. In this study, the changes of soil AM fungal community in response to road-building disturbance caused by tourism development in Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) Scenic Area are assessed. Road building have brought negative effects on AM fungal community, inducing lower diversity parameters, including species number, spore density and diversity indices. However, the dominant genus and species of AM fungi which play key roles in the AM fungal community composition are quite similar before and after road building. Moreover, there are no significant differences in species richness of AM fungi associated with plants, suggesting the tolerance of AM fungal community to the disturbance of road building.