Source of mycorrhizal inoculum influences growth of Faidherbia albida seedlings

Poor land use management and practice inhibit the growth and establishment of tree seedlings in dryland areas. We assessed arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM) status of Faidherbia albida (Del.) A. Chev. trees grown on different land uses. We quantified the growth and nutrient uptake of F. albida seedlings inoculated with AM from different sources. These efforts were based on soil and fine root samples from the rhizosphere soils of F. albida trees. AM root colonization was determined using the gridline intersect method. Spores were extracted by the wet sieving and decanting method and identified to genus level. The seedling experiment had a completely randomized one-factorial design with four treatments and five replications. Faidherbida albida seedlings were grown in a greenhouse. All in situ F. albida trees were colonized by AM fungi. AM root colonization of F. albida trees was significantly higher (P